Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns 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 president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions 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 “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “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 America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad