Trump's United States During Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of 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 appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad