The first time that Donald Trump ran for president, plenty of people talked about leaving the United States if he won. Some were at least halfway joking; some were engaging in hyperbolic tough talk – jokes soured and bluffs unexpectedly called by Trump’s chilling 2016 victory. But even those with the means to hastily relocate mostly stayed put as the shock gradually wore off and plenty of high-profile celebrities lent their voices to protesting against the administration’s various policies (or, doing the celebrity version: making fun of administration oddballs through shaky impressions on the Saturday Night Live cold open). The message was clear: we aren’t actually going anywhere; we’re staying and fighting (or just trying to get through the day). Maybe some people still thought about leaving the country – I know a few who sincerely looked into Canada and Italy based on those countries’ particular rules. But after a global pandemic hit in 2020, there were other concerns involved with shifting residency anyway. Besides, later that year Trump himself was shown the door.

But that door was left cracked open, and with the second coming of Trump, there’s been a change. Courtney Love is seeking UK citizenship. Married couple Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have already moved to the UK and recently put their final remaining US property up for sale, indicating the move’s permanence. Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and their two children moved to London last summer – the same city where America Ferrera has been seen looking at schools, portending a possible move for the firmly outspoken actor. Rosie O’Donnell explicitly cited concern for her nonbinary child as her reason for heading to Ireland and seeking citizenship there. (Texas native Eva Longoria now resides in Spain and Mexico, though she insisted last autumn that the relocation was not political.)

Nine or 10 celebrities is not exactly a groundswell, but in the context of the relative quiet that has greeted the second Trump administration, it is notable. Plenty of famous folks supported Kamala Harris, and plenty have spoken out about certain causes since Trump’s re-election, tacitly and sometimes directly opposing the US president. The tone and volume, however, have been far more muted this time around, just as it has been with non-celebs. This probably reflects a sense of exhaustion and, if not exactly acceptance, perhaps understanding, even fear, that Trump’s 2016 victory wasn’t as anomalous as many hoped. If an American celebrity’s primary job is some form of visibility, a small but noticeable group of them are quiet-quitting their country. And it’s not just the famous (though presumably it is mostly the relatively rich): there’s been an overall 40% uptick in Americans seeking British citizenship.

On one hand, it’s hard to blame people who have the resources to put their money where their mouth is. The second Trump administration is far more focused on the business of remaking the government, and the country along with it, and part of that strategy entails telling anyone it can that they aren’t considered real Americans. Women, racial minorities, and basically anyone else who isn’t a white male have been told that they don’t really count the same way – that they’re “DEI” people, and they’re about to get purged if they don’t shut up and go along. Cases like O’Donnell’s are particularly sympathetic: anyone with a child who doesn’t identify as belonging to the most traditional categories possible must be terrified that they could wind up sitting by as their rights are stripped away. Hollywood higher-ups have also signaled that they’re ready to capitulate to Trump Nation, duly trashing their DEI initiatives and, in the case of tech-related companies, cozying up to the administration. So it makes sense that some are opting out of that world.

At the same time, no one in these celebrities’ position will ever be as deeply affected as, say, a trans kid whose family can’t afford to uproot them out of a red state, let alone out of the country completely. To some extent, efficiently escaping the Trump administration has become just another luxury item for the 1%, the kind of exemption Trump and his cronies constantly seek for themselves. This isn’t celebrities’ fault; Trump’s wrongdoing is his own, and it is legion. It’s a measure of his corruption, though, that one of the best ways to avoid it without hiding in a cave is apparently to spend a bunch of money moving to one of the most expensive cities on Earth. Where regular Americans might have once peered at a celebrity Instagram and felt a pang (or more) of jealousy over a beautiful house or a particularly cushy vacation, now they have the opportunity to envy some basic rights and freedom from direct persecution. It’s a positively Trumpian development: you don’t have to be oppressed, provided you have the right luck or money.