The United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

But over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, 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 dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined 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, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of 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,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

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

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad