The United States During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations 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 impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America 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 China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad