The United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad