Trump's United States During Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest parallel 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. He resided in the US since 2019, 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 nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives 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 could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. 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