Wealthy Americans are fleeing Trump's chaos – and Britain's cashing in

Telegraph

03-05-2025

Threats to the car industry, jobs lost and rising taxes – Donald Trump's chaotic first 100 days in office have hardly sparked cheerful headlines in Britain.
However, one unexpected silver lining is emerging that could reverse a historical trend that has persisted since the Second World War.
For decades, Britain's richest and most skilled have been lured to the US by high wages, prestigious institutions and the chance to do business in the world's biggest economy.
But now Americans are nervously eyeing the exit amid growing concerns over their wealth, research funding and general uncertainty related to the Trump administration's policies.
The UK is among the countries most likely to gain from America's loss, presenting a chance to boost the economy by mopping up disgruntled world-class scientists, investors and students who had been destined for Ivy League universities.
Lawyers for the ultra-wealthy say they have been inundated with a deluge of inquiries from US clients since Trump's inauguration.
'The number of inquiries that come into our US team based in London has gone through the roof over the last three, four, five months,' says Ceri Vokes, a tax partner at Withers, a City law firm.
'There is definitely a desire to diversify away from the US. London is a natural place for them to come to because of the common language and similar culture.'
Inquiries from US clients considering relocating to the UK have been three times higher so far in 2025 than the same period in previous years, according to Vokes.
Trump effect
Trump's trade war has triggered trillion-dollar stock market fluctuations and thrown the dollar's safe-haven status into question.
The wealthiest are taking precautions so they can get out fast if the chaos escalates, Vokes says.
'We're seeing an increasing number of US clients looking to buy property here to have a foot in another jurisdiction and somewhere that they could move to,' she says.
Kelvin Tanner, an immigration partner at City firm Charles Russell Speechlys, says inquiries from US millionaires and billionaires so far in 2025 have doubled from previous years.
'I'm dealing with more Americans moving than over the last few years or when President Trump was last in office. There was an increase following last year's election. This then accelerated after the first few months of Trump being in office,' he adds.
'We've had people that have a high profile and wanted to make sure they were set up in the UK, almost as a kind of insurance policy. We're seeing a range of backgrounds – people who work in the technology sector, financial services and so on.'
There are several early signs of a rapid rise in Americans looking to the UK after the US election. Citizen applications from US nationals jumped 40pc to 1,700 in the final three months of last year compared with the same period in 2023.
According to Knight Frank, the estate agency, the share of Americans purchasing luxury property in central London rose to 11.6pc at the end of 2024, making them the largest nationality and overtaking Chinese buyers.
If more Americans take the plunge, it could very helpful indeed for beleaguered Chancellor Rachel Reeves, whose tax changes have prompted a string of high-profile UK exits.
They include Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs' most senior banker outside the US, and Nassef Sawiris, Egypt's richest man.
Renewed interest from Americans is helping to plug a gap left by the flight of non-doms, says Rosy Khalastchy, of luxury estate agents Beauchamp Estates.
'[Some] people are leaving but there is a transition period going on. There are still people who value London and the services that are here, and there is turmoil in their country. We are seeing more Americans coming in,' she says.
'Horrendously stupid' attack
While the wealthiest will be the most mobile, research suggests other strata of American society are also feeling increasingly uneasy under Trump.
Figures from Study Portal suggest US interest in British degrees jumped 25pc in March compared with the same month a year earlier.
Meanwhile, a survey of 600 US academics by scientific journal Nature found three in four were considering their future in the country, with many weighing up moves to Canada or the UK.
It comes after the president has made an enemy of America's most highly regarded academic institutions, freezing federal funding for several top universities.
He also threatened Harvard with restricting its ability to enrol foreign students and further funding cuts, demanding a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion practices and a crackdown on protests.
'A grant is at our discretion and [Harvard] are really not behaving well. So it's too bad,' Trump warned on Wednesday.
Mass lay-offs and sweeping cuts to scientific research at top universities have also prompted warnings from academics that the president risks causing economic damage equivalent to a major recession.
The UK would be in a unique position to benefit from a reverse US brain drain because of the shared language and prestigious universities, says Christian Dustmann, an economics professor at University College London.
'It is suicidal what the Trump administration is doing with one of their very biggest assets, and that is the excellence of research and the universities,' he says.
'To attack that in the way they are doing is just horrendously stupid. If those talents are moving away towards, for instance, the UK, this is a huge opportunity for us.'
The competition for these scientists and researchers is already heating up, with countries across Europe quickly rolling out the red carpet in the form of top talent visas and recruitment funds for universities.
An influx of top academics and a surge in interest from students looking for alternatives to Ivy League universities could help boost Britain's higher education sector and the wider economy, says Jamie Arrowsmith, from Universities UK International.
But the cash-strapped sector may struggle to accommodate it amid redundancy drives and speculation that a crackdown on overseas student visas looms, he warns.
'If leading research talent wants to choose the UK, then we should absolutely welcome that. It will make a positive contribution to higher education, to the UK's research base and ultimately growth and prosperity,' Arrowsmith says.
'The big challenge we have to be completely honest is that the UK is not without its own challenges and uncertainties. Prospective students and potential researchers want certainty and stability.'
Another difficulty, immigration lawyers warn, is that even very wealthy Americans may find it tricky to get a visa if they are business owners or investors, as opposed to workers.
It is still too early to say how big and persistent a US brain drain will be. But America's misery may offer a golden opportunity to stagnating Britain – if Reeves chooses to seize it.