Rust is being added to the Linux kernel and is making inroads in domains where C and C++ have historically been used. It can match (and sometimes exceed) the performance of C and C++ but with better memory safety and sound concurrency.
C++ won't go away anytime soon, but it's practically disingenuous to call C++ "the new Python".
With how slow the c++ community moves and how much debt they have I think it’s game over in most arenas
The trade-off was more overhead, but faster development and fewer errors due to not needing to manage memory or other low-level details.
Java is easier to write than C++ and is more portable than C++, but needs more time to get fast and more memory to work with.
By way of comparison, Rust offers all of the speed of C++ and similar low overhead with practically none of the footguns that C++ is known for.
The overall use of the language grew because everything in IT grew a lot during that time, so the niches where Java sucks grew larger than all of the C++ niches at the start.
The real question is if Rust will leave any niche. It looks like it won't, but this is not the kind of question one can really answer.