Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad