Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad