Trump's United States Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing 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 government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad