Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.

However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought 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, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech 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.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad