It has been barely a month since Trump was sworn in as the U.S. president, yet he has shaken up the U.S. government. And the Chinese public is watching.
That in itself is unusual. During the time of former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, for instance, ordinary Chinese people narrowly paid attention to U.S. diplomacy, especially its China strategy. Compared with the past, this time the Chinese public is more interested in the various internal policies introduced by Trump.
There are hot tags and topics about Trump’s domestic policies on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China, almost every day. The overall attitude is not serious, however, and most Chinese people have a mentality of watching an entertaining show.
Some Chinese find big problems in Trump’s domestic approach, while others see the U.S. changes as a signal of confidence.
Let’s look at a few topics that ordinary Chinese people are paying the most attention to.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, has huge power to audit any U.S. government department, stop government payments, and suspend and fire public servants and employees. In perhaps the most startling sign of its unchecked power, DOGE sent an unvetted 25-year-old to check the accounts in Department of the Treasury, and briefly gave him permission over payment systems that manage the internal information of all Americans. The rapid changes underway may be why Musk calls the Trump team a “revolutionary administration.”
Seeing the word “revolution,” it is no wonder that some Chinese netizens see parallels to the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s-1970s, when young people became Red Guards and took over various government departments. In the eyes of some Chinese, Musk is trying to subvert Washington’s political tradition as well. Although the United States is still on the track of the rule of law, the “rule of man” may become popular in the future.
Of course, in the eyes of Trump and Musk, the previous American political culture was abnormal, and their approach is meant to turn it back to “common sense.” In particular, after Trump came to power, he canceled various diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies at a very fast speed, which even has affected the private sector. Trump wants to censor any mention of the term DEI, or the individual words within it. He certainly will not actively promote such policies to the world, like the Obama and Biden administrations in the past.
For Chinese who advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in their own ways, the attack on DEI may be the most destructive actions of the Trump administration. In seeking to understand the change, many Chinese cite the more conservative ideology of the Republicans. It is also believed that LGBTQ and other groups are basically Democratic vote banks, and therefore Trump is retaliating against them.
In China, some groups often lumped under the banner of DEI – such as LGBTQ+ advocates or feminists – have been seeking space to develop slowly in the past few years. In fact, the current situation in the United States is the opposite of the development trend of DEI in China and other Global South countries. Previously, DEI was regarded as a symbol of the United States as a global human rights beacon. After Trump’s policy about-face, this beacon may be dimmed for the Chinese people.
In addition, Trump does not care about climate change and green policies. He wants to quit the Paris Climate Agreement and revive the oil industry. This is also out of step with the global trend toward the promotion of green development and new energy sources.
In fact, in recent years, “going green” is not only an economic topic but also a society-wide issue. China, India, South Africa and other Global South countries are all carrying out environmental education, and China has promoted the fastest development of new energy vehicles in the world, which are concrete examples of global green policies.
Trump easily subverted this model after taking office, which of course attracted great attention from the Chinese public, given China is headed in the opposite direction. There are two theories to explain Trump’s attitude on the Chinese internet. One is to link Trump’s policy with China, believing that rejecting the green transition is a means for the United States to offset the global impact of China’s new energy industry. Another view is that Trump may not oppose green policies in his heart, but he has to repay the support of traditional industries such as oil for his campaign.
In addition to withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, Trump also quit several other United Nations organizations, such as the such as the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council. It’s interesting to see that some Chinese netizens actually expressed their approval of Trump’s decision to pull out from U.N. organizations As the international situation has become increasingly chaotic in recent years, Chinese public opinion has become increasingly skeptical about the role of the United Nations. The global governance body has not only failed to prevent the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Gaza War, but has even failed to mediate or stop these conflicts. Meanwhile it has continued to take membership fees from countries around the world. Therefore, Trump’s contempt for the U.N. matches the prevailing sentiment among some Chinese netizens.
Of course, ordinary Chinese people are also very interested in Trump’s diplomacy. However, compared with his campaign rhetoric, more people seem to feel that Trump is not as harsh on China as previously predicted. Although he is surrounded by many professionals who are regarded as hawks against China – such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz – at least till now Trump’s own remarks on China are obviously softer and even friendlier than theirs.
For example, Trump put a hold on the legislation calling for a ban on TikTok, and is looking for buyers so the app can remain in the United States. On Chinese AI such as DeepSeek, he publicly said it’s an asset rather than a national security threat to the United States. On the contrary, Trump’s criticism of allies such as Europe, Canada, and Mexico is more outspoken.
In particular, many Chinese see an opportunity in Trump’s approach to Russia. Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin and did not communicate with European allies in advance. He has since attacked Ukraine’s president repeatedly and blamed Ukraine for the war. Most Chinese people think Trump’s approach for resolving the Ukraine war is: it doesn’t matter who is in the wrong, a ceasefire will be enough in the end. He also likes money very much, as evidenced by his demand for Ukraine to hand over its minerals to the United States. Some Chinese netizens are happy about this, because they believe that this may provide a reference for China to solve the Taiwan issue in the future.
But professionals in the media and academia are more cautious. They believe Trump doesn’t attach importance to moral principles when solving international problems. Asking Gaza residents to move from their homeland and Ukraine to recognize Russia’s occupation of land are the best examples. This style will definitely make the international situation more disorderly and that may not be a good thing for China, whose interests have already been globalized.
Simply put, when ordinary Chinese people look at what is happening in the United States now, it’s just like watching a movie. They are both nervous and excited because everything they are seeing is new and no one can guess the ending in advance. But for the leaders who actually have to craft policies to respond to Trump, that unpredictability is less entertaining.