Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, 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 America since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

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

Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad