The America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.

However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad