Trump's United States During the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. 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 less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, 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 capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad