The intensifying rivalry between major global economies highlights the need to better understand the politicized nature of international business. This study introduces a new political factor—community political ideology (i.e., the dominant political ideology along the liberalism-conservatism spectrum among a community’s members)—and examines its influences on cross-border M&As between countries that are deemed as economic and political rivals. Building on the literature on political ideology and cross-border M&A, we argue that conservative communities tend to perceive greater threats and uncertainty posed by cross-border M&As from rival countries and therefore exert stronger resistance to these deals. Using Chinese cross-border M&As in the U.S. as a research context, we predict that these M&As are less likely to be completed in U.S. communities with a higher proportion of conservative residents. Moreover, the negative effect of community conservatism on the completion of Chinese M&A deals in the U.S. is further enhanced when the target firms are in sensitive industries or when the target communities suffer from greater economic distress. An analysis of 267 Chinese cross-border M&As in the U.S. from 2002 to 2021 supports these arguments. Our study contributes to research on geopolitical rivalry, political ideology, and cross-border M&As.