The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’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 the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise 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 federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, 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 painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad