Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

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

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad