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

As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now 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 legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted 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 Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. 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 am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad