The United States During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad