The America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident 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 online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America 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 liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad