Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

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

His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of 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, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad