Trump's United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash came 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 dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad