Trump's America Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous 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 China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad