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

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government'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 stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad