Trump's United States During the New Administration Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

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

On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge 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 although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad