Trump's America Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing 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 familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

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

Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves 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 Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad