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

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.

But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad