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

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi 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 governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad