Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring 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 political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

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

Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad