Abstract

During his second term in office, Trump vigorously promotes changes in the United States in terms of political ideology and power structure, thus giving rise to “non-liberal democracy” in the country. Trump has been striving to weaken the liberal ideology represented by the concepts of “diversity, equality and inclusion”, while taking advantage of the political divisions within the United States to maintain and expand his power base, and to achieve the long-term and institutionalized development of conservative populist ideas. He has also attempted to go deep in reforming the US government system, using the “state of emergency” to significantly expand the president’s executive power to crack down on the “deep state”, damage the power of the US legislative, judicial and local governments, strengthen control over the military, and suppress US universities, media and other institutions. The conservative populism represented by Trump reflects profound changes in the ideological landscape of the United States and even the entire Western world. Democratic principles such as the rule of law and checks and balances of power are being challenged, and an American-style authoritarian system is emerging. “Non-liberal democracy” has a significant impact on the domestic and foreign affairs of the United States as well as China-US relations.