Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that 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 bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

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

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad