Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, 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 execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

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

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad