The United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad