The United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

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

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad