The America During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad