Trump's United States During Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

However in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated 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 the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China 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 about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad