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

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on 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 among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad