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

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US 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, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad