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

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding 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 refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad