Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, 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 capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad