Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

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

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad