Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule 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 China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad