The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.

However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

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

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad