Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad