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

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that 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 a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad