There’s nothing quite like the sight of a suited business tycoon, huffing and puffing all the way to the mighty halls of Washington, ready to take a swipe at the dragon hanging out in the corner: China. This isn’t the polite parlor discourse of tariffs we’re so used to hearing about. No, this is personal. It’s eye-for-an-eye kind of personal. When Kevin O’Leary gets on a plane to the nation’s capital, he’s got one thing in mind, and it sure isn’t taking in the cherry blossoms.

Now, O’Leary’s not your everyday I-got-a-bone-to-pick traveler. He’s the one who’s contending with a reality where doing honest business in China seems like tangoing with a ghost—an invisible partner who sneaks off with your brilliant ideas and sells them back to you. Sounds fair, right? Of course not. This isn’t just about fun and games with tariffs. It’s about a playing field that’s as tilted as a pinball machine when it comes to intellectual property. They say some things are universal and theft seems to be a common language here.

Let’s not pretend this problem is new. Apparently, no one’s really taken on China before. Not the Europeans with their fancy infrastructure projects, nor past administrations with their intricate diplomatic dance steps. Meanwhile, the art of Chinese theft becomes an open secret bigger than the plot twist of a blockbuster movie. But in marches a brash decision-maker who peels back the curtain and declares, “Let’s tighten this up.” While the world’s busy nodding along, one guy decides it’s time to let the chips fall where they may and squeeze those chips right into the wall.

The spectacle doesn’t stop there. Over at CNN, where usually eyebrows hover at snappy headlines, a whole panel of commentators may have actually run out of gasps. This isn’t just a discussion anymore. This is a declaration of war, not just over a few tariffs here and there—but over how the global chessboard has been set up, fixated on the strategy to stymie China’s pervasive influence. That’s some big talk coming from the businessman.

In the end, this isn’t all about China-bashing or boiling the pot of brewing political tensions. It’s more about rewriting the narrative and imposing some good old accountability. For this drama-filled skit to have a happy ending, it’s going to take more assertiveness, a few more engaged citizens, and perhaps a heaping dose of patience. But as events unravel, one thing’s for sure: when America decides to play its cards, it plays to win.