The America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention 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 Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to 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 fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad