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

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad