Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad