Trump's United States During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – 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.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad