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

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad