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

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.

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

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad