Thucydides Trap?

Is the US Athens and China Sparta, as Xi implied? I feel he misses the point. Yes, Sparta had the better military and won the Peloponnesian war, but was an autocratic, repressively rigid society that ultimately faded into obscurity. Athens's influence has reverberated through the centuries and even its ruins remain monumental.

Trump missed his opportunity for a clever rejoinding insult... if he even understood Xi's point.

Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/xi-humiliates-trump-to-his-face-in-the-white-house/ar-AA2cV2A6?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=6ab65da62cf44539b2b0e6f36056e987&ei=38