Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

But in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

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

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad