The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of 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 “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad