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

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However 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 where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves 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. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad