The folk singer behind "The Sound of Silence" told a British newspaper he is "thinking of leaving the country" because he opposes President Trump's leadership, joining a long line of entertainers who have made similar threats.
Art Garfunkel, now 84 and approaching his 85th birthday in November, sat down with The Guardian for an interview in which he sounded off on Trump, Venezuela, climate change, and world hunger. Asked about global issues and "those in power," Garfunkel did not hold back.
"I don't like America's position at all," Garfunkel told the paper. "I'm not aboard, and I'm thinking of leaving the country, frankly."
He offered no specifics about where he would go or whether he has taken any concrete steps toward relocating. He did say he would love to "sail around the world, see India and China, sing in South America." That is not a moving plan. It is a travel brochure.
Among the singer's grievances was a pointed objection to U.S. policy in Venezuela. "When Donald Trump took over Venezuela, are those the new rules?" Garfunkel asked. "Just take over a country and run it?"
That framing leaves out quite a bit. In January 2026, President Trump announced that U.S. forces had captured Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's longtime strongman, and flew him to the United States to face federal charges. Maduro had presided over an economic collapse that drove millions of Venezuelans out of their own country, creating one of the largest refugee crises in the Western Hemisphere. The Trump administration did not "take over" Venezuela. It removed a leader whom the United States and dozens of other nations had long refused to recognize as legitimately elected.
Weeks before Garfunkel's interview, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright traveled to Caracas to finalize a historic oil deal between the two countries, a deal that would have been unthinkable under Maduro's regime. The administration's Venezuela policy has produced tangible diplomatic and economic results, not the reckless imperialism Garfunkel's comments imply.
Garfunkel is hardly the first celebrity to threaten an exit over a president they dislike. Rosie O'Donnell predicted on CNN that Trump would not survive his term. She is still in America. Trump is still in office.
Garfunkel also waded into climate policy during the interview, declaring:
"It's real that the planet is getting warmer, that the water's rising, that so many people are starving."
He did not name a specific policy he objects to, cite a specific data point, or propose an alternative. He simply registered his displeasure with the state of the world and aimed it at the current president. That is his right, of course. But it does not amount to a serious political argument, it amounts to mood.
The pattern is familiar. A celebrity with no evident expertise in energy policy, foreign affairs, or economics delivers sweeping moral pronouncements to a sympathetic interviewer, and the quotes circulate as though they carry analytical weight. They do not. Garfunkel himself seemed to sense this, telling The Guardian, "I hope I come across as philosophical." He added: "I'm a thinker, a book reader, a walker, but mostly I'm a singer."
On that last point, he is right. Garfunkel is a singer, one half of Simon & Garfunkel, one of the most celebrated folk duos in American music history. His voice shaped a generation. His political commentary has not.
Other public figures have also floated dramatic predictions about the Trump presidency. James Carville doubled down on a prediction that Trump would resign, a forecast that has aged poorly. The celebrity-pundit class keeps swinging and missing.
For all his stated dissatisfaction, Garfunkel acknowledged that the situation is temporary. "But Trump won't last forever," he said. "So we've got to hope."
That is a revealing admission. If the problem is one president's term in office, leaving the country is not a principled stand, it is a tantrum with a passport. And Garfunkel has not actually left. He has not named a destination. He has not described any preparation. He told a British newspaper he is "thinking" about it.
Meanwhile, Garfunkel shared details about his personal life that suggest a man still very much rooted in his routines. He described himself as an avid long-distance walker who has trekked across Japan and Europe. He talked about stage fright. "I'm always very nervous, behind the curtain," he said. "Then I walk out and hear the applause and I flip from fear to confidence right there."
He also noted, unprompted, "I don't wanna go into space." No one had asked.
The entertainment world's relationship with the Trump family continues to generate headlines from all directions. Barron Trump recently stepped out at a White House UFC event, a reminder that the family celebrities love to criticize remains firmly in the public eye, and firmly in power.
Garfunkel's interview also drew attention because of its timing. It landed eight months after the Maduro capture and days after the Venezuela oil deal moved forward, two concrete achievements that complicate the vague objections the singer raised. Policy results are harder to argue with than feelings, and Garfunkel offered only feelings.
The White House has pushed back before when celebrities use media appearances to call for Trump's removal or resignation. Whether the administration responds to an 84-year-old folk singer's musing remains to be seen. It may not need to.
Every few years, a famous face announces they will leave the country if the wrong person wins the White House. They never leave. The airports are open, the passports work, and the rest of us are still here, paying taxes, following the law, and living with the results of elections whether we like them or not.
