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

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

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

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad