Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, 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 free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad