Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘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, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad