Trump's United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad