When U.S. President Donald Trump decided to seek a second term in the White House, Doris Davis and Susie Bartlett – an interracial lesbian couple living in New York City – made a life-changing decision.
If he won, they would move abroad.
The couple said they had been willing to give Trump a go during his first term, but they’d watched in alarm as he returned to office and ended a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity and rights for LGBTQ+ people.
Now, after his victory, more and more Americans are moving to other countries in Latin America or Europe. Anywhere, except watching what Trump does with the country.
What once seemed like a crazy idea is today a reality.
Some Hollywood stars left the U.S. after Trump’s re-election in November, including talk show hosts Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell, sparking media attention.
Thea Duncan, founder of Milan-based relocation business ‘Doing Italy’, said she has been receiving inquiries nearly every day since the election from ordinary Americans seeking information.
“People are uncertain about what’s happening and what’s going to happen,” Duncan said.
In Britain, a company of immigration lawyers called Immigration Advice Service said it had seen a more than 25% increase in inquiries from the U.S.
Its director, Ono Okeregha, said several clients had expressed concerns over political changes under the Trump administration, particularly over rights for same-sex couples as several states consider weakening protections for their marriages.
Wendy Newman, a 57-year-old photographer, moved to London with her husband in 2022 in part because of the increasing political polarization back home. She said she felt her rights were more secure in Britain, where she wants to stay permanently. She hopes her daughter, who still lives in the U.S. but is applying for university in Britain, can move too.
“We just feel like there’s just too much at risk for her to stay there,” said Newman, fearful of curbs on women’s reproductive rights in the U.S. and what she described as Trump’s “misogynistic tendencies.”
Jimmy Kimmel might be the next American comedian to flee to Europe to escape President Donald Trump.
Kimmel, who has hosted the ABC late-night comedy show Jimmy Kimmel Live! For 22 years, he shared his thoughts on Trump and the state of American politics with his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, on his podcast.
“A lot of people I know are thinking about where they are going to get citizenship?” Silverman said.
“I did get Italian citizenship,” Kimmel replied.
According to the Italian news agency Ansa, Kimmel obtained Italian citizenship this year after proving his ancestral lineage. Kimmel’s maternal great-grandparents emmigrated to New York from Naples after an earthquake devastated their hometown, Ischia, in 1883.
Kimmel is a public critic of MAGA and has regularly criticized Trump, most recently over the president’s trade war. After a hiccup in the stock market, Kimmel accused Trump of causing stress on the stock market to “distract us from all the other horrible stuff.”
He later joined the chorus of TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) jokes—a nickname Wall Street executives have given Trump for his flip-flopping on tariffs. “How does it feel to be on the other end of the nickname game?” Kimmel said on his show, “Not great, does it?”
Kimmel has also coined his own nicknames for Donald and Melania Trump: Don Valjean and Lady Misérable.
