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

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

But in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined 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 state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

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

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad