Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm 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.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”

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

On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad