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

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about 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, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad