Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

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

Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad