Trump's America During the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

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

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad