Trump's America During the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising 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 don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

But over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, 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, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad