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

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad