Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.

But in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up 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, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

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

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad