Trump's America Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments 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”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal 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, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals 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 by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously 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 stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad