Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from the East

As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

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

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding 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 government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad