Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“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, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

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

On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more 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 official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad