The United States During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments 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 surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

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

On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad