The America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump 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 blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad