Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America 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, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

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

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

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

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad