The America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

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

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … 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 well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad