Trump's United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad