Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

But over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder 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 currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad