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

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

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

His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad