Trump's America Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, 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 knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated 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. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. 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