The United States During Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, 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 reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad