Trump sparks surge in American immigration to Europe

The German newspaper "Hamburger Abendblatt" reported in an article that American citizens fled to Europe due to fear of Donald Trump and his policies.

The report states: More and more American citizens are looking for a comfortable place to live in southern Europe. Experts suspect that this is related to the rise of Donald Trump.

George Gavrilidis, president of the Greek real estate agency Elxis, noticed a surprising trend last November that in the two weeks after Donald Trump was elected as the new US president, searches from the United States on his company's website doubled compared to the same period last year.

The company, which is based in Utrecht, Netherlands, and specializes in real estate brokerage in Greece, announced that its clients mainly come from German-speaking countries, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. But in November 2024, the month of the US presidential election, Americans suddenly became the majority of visitors to the company’s website.

Elxis CEO Gavriilidis reports that this trend was also evident in the months leading up to the US election. “Demand from the US was six times higher in some months of 2024 than the previous year,” says Gavriilidis. “After the US presidential election in November, this trend quickly accelerated again,” says the real estate expert. Gavriilidis expects US customers to rank third in 2025, behind Germans and Dutch.

Some US citizens no longer feel comfortable in their own country after Trump returned to the White House. The social polarization that was already evident during Trump’s first term is now intensifying in the country.

An analysis of Google searches also showed that searches for the topic “leaving the US” increased significantly after the US presidential election.

Searches for “immigration” or “move to New Zealand” surged after the polls were finalized on November 5, according to Reuters.

Henley & Partners, a visa and citizenship agency, also reported that applications from American citizens increased 400 percent in the first week after Trump was elected president compared to the previous week.