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

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.

However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs 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.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain 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 information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad