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

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years 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 as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

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

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad