Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, 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. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad