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

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” 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 comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad