Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face 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.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad