Trump's United States During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

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

His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad