Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China 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 organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US 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, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad