Trump's America During the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. 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 countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

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

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad