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

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

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

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad