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

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking 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 fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad