Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. 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 public library.

However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad