Trump's America During the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of 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, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

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

Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad