The America During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, 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 the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad