The America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. 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 countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

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

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country 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 all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad