Nothing like bombing the shit out of the Germans and the Japs then giviving them money to build new stuff while we're stuck with our old crap.
I'm as USA-first as anyone, but let's face it - The Marshall Plan paid off big-time for the US.
As for the trade deficit, the rules of economics apply to the Chinese as much as to the US. The countries that produce with the lowest labor costs get a flood of money. That flood of money drives up wages and fuels consumption. Pretty soon, all that cheap labor isn't so cheap anymore, and it's "next country up". China keeps trying to mess with the rules by holding down currency value and so on, but that's bubble-gum-and-spit stop-gapping. Eventually, it'll cost more to produce it in China and Africa will get all the outsourced manufacturing. That and vast resources are why China is pouring huge amounts of effort and money into Africa. Eventually, it either swings back to the US, or it broadly distributes and lifts all boats. Or somebody hits the button and we vaporize ourselves. We're still waiting to see how it plays out.