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

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “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 symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

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

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad