Thousands of American Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers really did flee to Europe in recent years, expecting to find a democratic socialist paradise — but the truly shocking part is that Wired, of all publications, revealed the schadenfreudelicious results. "Annie," to name just one, complained about the "huge misconceptions about access to quality health care" in Britain, and she even admitted that "the quality of life is significantly lower than in the U.S."
Before we get to that, however, I'd like to say something nice about, as Wired put it, the "thousands of Americans" who "relocated to Europe in the last few years."
Unlike certain celebrities I could name who keep promising to leave the country if Donald Trump gets elected — which happened at least twice by my count — but then keep getting spotted by the paparazzi at the Malibu Whole Foods or whatever, Annie and her fellow expats actually put their francs, marks, lira, and pounds where their mouths are.
Wired says that Annie was just like thousands of other potential expats, researching "their new destination on Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram," hoping to find a better way of living. Some sought "adventure; others, the promise of a 'slower' lifestyle outside the American grind."
"But, for many," Wired said, to no conservative's shock, "these reasons were just bonuses to another kind of escape: political refuge in the wake of Trump’s second term."
Some of our lefty friends seem to have actually believed all the TDS panicmongering about how Trump was going to round them all up and put them to work doing forced labor in Melania's underground lingerie mines.
"Once I was in Germany and had some distance from the situation in the US,” an expat called Josh said, “I felt perhaps I had overreacted.”
You don't say.
I found the article on X, where the reactions were pretty much all variations on this theme:
@WIRED https://t.co/pqu6wZMuQ2
— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) October 20, 2026
Wired inadvertently delivered the biggest punchline to the joke, which the publication hardly seemed aware of: "Annie says she experienced a high amount of anti-American sentiment straight away," despite her political proclivities.
I've spent some time in London, just enough to get a feel and a genuine fondness for the city and its people, and long enough ago to know I'd be heartbroken going back. So I don't know whether it's the changes London has suffered these last 20 years or so that caused Annie to find it "particularly surprising how people feel so comfortable mocking my accent and culture, even in a workplace environment," or whether she somehow brought it on herself.
The Londoners I met were nothing but warm and gracious, almost to a fault. My experience was all pre-Trump/pre-Khan, so who knows?
And Another Thing: Feel free to spend the rest of the day chuckling over people silly enough to make fundamental life and career choices based on stuff they saw on Reddit, TikTok, or Instagram. You probably always assumed that TDS caused the frontal cortex to atrophy, but hoe-lee shi'ite.
Then there's the I-Told-You-So portion of Wired's article, dealing with lower salaries, less disposable income, and, as Annie put it, "Things in the UK that are considered luxury items are very common” in America, like dishwashers and clothes dryers.
It would appear that at roughly the same time Annie was cataloging her complaints for Wired, a previously non-famous German guy named Freddie became internet famous during his World Cup visit, gushing over America's Lifestyles of the Common and Normal at places like Buc-ee's and Bass Pro.
In America, we have access to 117 different kinds of quality jerky, just a short trip from home in our cavernous SUVs. In Europe, they still hang the wash out to dry, and the authorities want to outlaw beef — but, hey, no Trump.
All my schadenfreude aside, I have serious respect for Annie taking the chance, making the move, and then being honest about the realities of life on the other side of the pond. Even if she wouldn't give her real name or any potentially identifying information.
Annie is still an American lefty living a properly miserable existence as a Europoor, and isn't that something every patriotic, jerky-loving American should stand up and salute?
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