Trump's America Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed 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 China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad