Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in 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 the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.

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 as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. 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, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad