Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.

However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad