Music Icon, 84, Threatens to Flee U.S. Over ‘Shocking’ Trump Moves

'TROUBLED WATER'

The Grammy-winning musician also shared one shred of “hope.”

Paul Simon (R) waves with Art Garfunkel after their performance during one of two 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concerts in New York October 29, 2009.  REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES ENTERTAINMENT)
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Art Garfunkel, 84, has said that Trump’s staggering presidency has made him consider moving out of the U.S.

“I don’t like America’s position at all,” he said in a Guardian interview. “I’m not aboard, and I’m thinking of leaving the country, frankly.”

Garfunkel has won eight Grammy Awards through his solo and collaborative work, including a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s famous for both his solo work and his work in the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel with Paul Simon, 84. Once close, the two have had a turbulent relationship and reconciled in 2025 after years of estrangement.

Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel pose at Columbia Records for a publicity still circa 1967,
Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel pose at Columbia Records for a publicity still circa 1967, Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer/Getty Images

Garfunkel, a longtime liberal, has supported Trump opponents like Bernie Sanders. He said he’s concerned about climate change’s impact on the planet, and that Trump’s sporadic, unprecedented actions alarm him.

“It’s real that the planet is getting warmer, that the water’s rising, that so many people are starving,” the “America” singer said. “When Donald Trump took over Venezuela, are those the new rules? Just take over a country and run it? It’s shocking.”

Donald Trump
Garfunkel criticized Trump for his erratic moves on the global stage, like kidnapping ex-Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Evelyn Hockstein/REUTERS

However dire the current situation, he also noted that the current administration will end, and he hopes his fear will ebb as Trump departs the White House.

“You think: how on Earth are we gonna change the presidency?” he said. “But Trump won’t last forever. So we’ve got to hope.”

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