Trump's America During the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a 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, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad