Fearful of Trump, some Americans look to make a life in Europe
LONDON/NEW YORK—When US 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. Then they watched in alarm as he returned to office and ended a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity and rights for LGBTQ+ people.
“We love this country, but we don’t love what it has become,” Davis, a 69-year-old educational consultant, said from their home in a New York City suburb. “When your identity is being attacked, there is a personal sense of … anger (and) frustration.”
Trump ran and won partly on a promise to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs which he said was “illegal and discriminatory.” He also vowed to ban biological men from women’s sports.
Upon taking his second term in office, Trump signed executive orders declaring only two sexes and banning transwomen from sports for biological women.
Davis and Bartlett are now working with an immigration lawyer to assess options in Europe. The couple is most interested in Portugal and Spain, attracted by the southern European lifestyle, and are looking at a digital nomad or retirement visa. Bartlett, who is 52, is retired.
“It saddens me to move,” said Davis, who’ll be sorry to leave her local community behind. “But it’s also a situation, politically and socially, that is unacceptable.”
Figure quite small
Government visa and citizenship data, as well as Reuters’ interviews with eight relocation firms, indicate an increased number of Americans are considering moving to Europe in the wake of Trump’s election—though the figures remain quite small for a nation of 340 million people.
US applications for Irish passports were at their highest level in a decade in the first two months of this year. Average monthly application in January and February of nearly 4,300 were up around 60 percent from last year, according to data from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs.
In France, government data showed that long-stay visa requests from Americans stood at 2,383 in the first three months of 2025, compared to a total of 1,980 over the same period last year.
From January to March, French authorities have granted 2,178 long-stay visas versus 1,787 the year before.
And applications for UK passports in the last three months of 2024—the latest period for which data is available—were a record of any quarter in the past two decades, with 1,708 applications submitted.
Relocation companies and websites helping people emigrate say that, at any given time in recent years, a significant number of Americans have shown an interest in moving abroad, citing issues including political divisions and gun violence.
Republicans, too
Italian immigration advisor Marco Permunian, founder of Italian Citizenship Assistance, said the election of Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020 led to an increase in interest too, mainly from Republican voters.
Some Hollywood stars left the US after Trump’s reelection in November, including talk show hosts Ellen de DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell, sparking media attention.
In Britain, a company of immigration lawyers called Immigration Advice Service said it had seen a more than 25 percent increase in enquiries from the US.
Its director, Ono Okeregha, said several clients had expressed worries 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.
