These are the American Patriots who moved abroad after Donald Trump was elected in November 2024. there is evidence of a significant increase, but there is no official U.S. government count of exactly how many American citizens have emigrated. This is what we know so far.
- About 180,000 U.S. citizens are estimated to have moved abroad during 2025. A recent analysis using destination-country immigration and residency data puts the figure at roughly 180,000. Another model produces a central estimate of 168,800, with a wide uncertainty range of 98,300 to 239,300.
- That does not mean 180,000 Americans left specifically because of Trump. The reasons include politics, cost of living, healthcare, safety, retirement, remote work and quality-of-life considerations. The available data cannot establish how many departures were politically motivated.
- The Census Bureau confirms that emigration increased after July 2024. Its latest estimates say the increase in people leaving the United States, combined with a sharp reduction in people entering, drove net international migration down from 2.7 million in 2024 to 1.3 million in 2025.
- Census also projects that net international migration could fall to only about 321,000 in 2026 if current trends continue.
- Net migration is not the same as Americans leaving. The net figure includes foreign-born immigrants entering or leaving, U.S.-born Americans moving abroad, Puerto Rico migration and other categories.
So, to be clear, since Trump's election? This is the cleanest defensible word:
At least roughly 180,000 American citizens appear to have established themselves abroad during 2025, the first full year after Trump's November 2024 election. The true number is probably higher, but there is no reliable official count yet available.
One particularly striking finding is that the U.S. experienced negative net international migration in 2025 according to Brookings' estimate, something not seen in at least half a century. Brookings estimated the 2025 range at -10,000 to -295,000, depending on assumptions.
Viewing this from a Trump-era political/economic perspective, many Americans left in 2025, and this is where they went, who renounced U.S. citizenship, an does the number represent a “Trump Exodus.”
And there is an emerging picture and the images of a story here, The strongest evidence suggests that at least 180,000 U.S. citizens moved abroad during 2025, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis cited in multiple reports. That is the first full calendar year after Trump's November 2024 election.
But here's the important distinction: why are there 180,000 Americans leaving and are they fleeing Trump?
The reasons include politics, polarization, cost of living, retirement, healthcare, taxes, family, employment and lifestyle. Some surveys, however, show politics playing a substantial role among people considering emigration. In one large Expats survey, 56 percent said America felt "too divided" and 53 percent cited political polarization.
And then there's the really interesting number:
Americans actually giving up citizenship Approximately 4,889 Americans renounced their U.S. citizenship in 2025, the highest annual figure since 2020, according to reporting based on IRS/Federal Register data.
That is a completely different category from simply moving abroad.
Renunciation is an extraordinarily consequential step. It requires a formal State Department process and can have major tax consequences.
And there's a fresh twist: the State Department cut the renunciation fee from $2,350 to $450 in April 2026, potentially making the decision more accessible.
Where are all these folks going? Mexico remains the biggest destination for Americans living abroad, with roughly 1.5 million or more U.S. citizens already residing there, depending on a guesstimate.
Other major destinations include:
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇵🇹 Portugal
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
- 🇵🇦 Panama
- 🇩🇪 Germany
Portugal, Spain, Canada, the UK and Italy are particularly prominent in surveys of Americans considering relocation, while Mexico dominates actual American expatriate populations.
And here's the bigger demographic story
The biggest demographic story, according to US Census, net international migration fell from 2.7 million in 2024 to 1.3 million in 2025, a 53.8% decline. The Bureau says the change resulted from both fewer people entering the country and more people leaving.
That's potentially much more consequential than the headline about Americans leaving.
So I would frame the story this way:
America isn't experiencing a documented mass political exodus. But it is experiencing a measurable increase in Americans establishing lives abroad, a surge in citizenship renunciations, and a historic collapse in net international migration.
And that is a much stronger, more defensible story than simply saying "Americans are fleeing Trump."
If you're thinking what I'm thinking, Ollie's next mess should be a proper investigative-style piece: "The American Exodus: Who Is Leaving, Where Are They Going, and Why?" We can put the numbers into a timeline from Trump's 2016 election → Biden years → Trump's 2024 election → 2025 → 2026, and separate actual departures, citizenship renunciations, people applying for residency abroad, and Americans merely saying they want to leave. That would make a hell of a story.
YES, Yes, yes... McGoo you've don it again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GTHXTEvIc
😂 McGoo! You’ve done it again.
That YouTube link is clearly part of the joke, but I can’t reliably retrieve the video itself from the link right now.
Still, I know where this is headed: Ollie/McGoo has accidentally created another investigative rabbit hole.
And frankly, “The American Exodus” has the makings of a terrific Dose of News piece:
THE AMERICAN EXODUS
Who is leaving the United States, where are they going, and is Trump driving them out?
The key will be separating what we can prove from what makes a great headline:
- Americans actually moving abroad
- Americans obtaining foreign residency
- Americans applying for visas or citizenship elsewhere
- Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship
- Americans saying they want to leave
- And, critically, how many departures can reasonably be connected to politics or Trump
That distinction could turn this from another hot political take into a real piece of journalism. I think we have a stronger story than simply “How many Americans have left since Trump was elected?” The reporting question should be: Is America experiencing a Trump exodus, and how many be attributed to Donald Trump?
The data give us a fascinating starting point. A new analysis estimates that about 180,000 U.S. citizens emigrated in 2025, reportedly the largest outbound migration of Americans in decades. At the same time, the Census Bureau found that net international migration plunged from 2.7 million in 2024 to 1.3 million in 2025, a 53.8% decline, with both fewer people entering and more people leaving the country contributing to the drop.
But here's where Dose of News can do something better than the clickbait.
Who is leaving America, where are they going, and why?
I'd build it around five questions:
1. How many actually left?
Establish the best available 2025 number and determine what we can say about 2026 so far.
2. Who are they?
Age, income, education, political affiliation where available, retirees versus working-age Americans, families versus individuals.
3. Where are they going?
Mexico, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Costa Rica, Italy, Australia and elsewhere. We should distinguish actual immigrants from people merely shopping for a new country.
4. Why are they leaving?
This is the crucial part. Politics and Trump should be tested alongside cost of living, healthcare, retirement, crime, family, employment, climate and quality of life.
5. Who is actually severing the American connection?
Moving abroad isn't renouncing citizenship. Renunciation is a much smaller but much more consequential phenomenon. And there's a fascinating 2026 development: the State Department reduced the fee for formally giving up U.S. nationality from $2,350 to $450, effective April 13.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans may be establishing lives abroad. But who's leaving, where are they going, and how much of the exodus is really about Donald Trump?
And I would not call the 180,000 “Trump refugees” unless the evidence ultimately supports that conclusion.
That's the journalistic hook: Trump may be part of the story, but let's find out how much of the story he actually is.
Our next segment: A data-driven timeline from 2016 through 2026, comparing emigration, Americans living abroad, citizenship renunciations, foreign residency applications and polling about the desire to leave. That gives us something substantially more rigorous than a partisan argument.