The United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

However in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal 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 dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad