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

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis 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 lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad