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

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

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

Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

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

Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad