In the run-up to his meeting with President Xi Jinping in May 2026, President Donald Trump gave currency to a two-decade-old idea of a US-China “G-2”. Following their May meeting, the two leaders met again in September 2026 and plan to meet in November and December this year. This unprecedented level of engagement, as well as the Trump-Xi agreement affirming commitment to a “Constructive Strategic and Stable Relationship”, has contributed to a new round of theorising on G-2 – the idea that the US and China constitute a brotherhood of big powers that can manage world affairs.