Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies 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 parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad