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

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. 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 a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad