Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.

But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, 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, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars 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 also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad