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

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad