Trump's America Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. 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 associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad