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

As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad