The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad