The United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad