Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. 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