The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

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

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad