Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad