Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”

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

On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad