Richard Gere slams Trump, says “deeply ashamed” of US after moving back to America from Spain

Richard Gere has made headlines recently, as the seventy-six-year-old actor went public with some sharp words for President Donald Trump. Gere, who was the guest of honor at a joint migration initiative by the Hertie School Centre for Fundamental Rights and The Gere Foundation, declared himself "deeply ashamed" of America over the Trump administration's rhetoric on immigrants. His comments come months after he and his forty-three-year-old wife Alejandra Silva moved back to the US, having spent roughly a year living in Madrid, Spain.

The couple had packed up and relocated to Spain in late 2024, shortly after Trump's election win. They eventually returned to America late last year. As per a report shared by Daily Mail, Richard Gere didn't hold back once back on home turf, directing his words at Trump, who is now seventy-nine years old.

Speaking at the event, Gere said,

"Did it ever cross your mind that America could sink to this level? Did you ever imagine that someone as crazy as this would become President of the United States and work to destroy it?"

Richard Gere speaks out on US immigration language:

Gere also used his time at the podium to speak broadly about immigration and what he sees as a troubling shift in how the US government talks about people who cross borders. The Primal Fear actor drew on history to make his case, saying,

"Human history is, in many ways, the history of migration, of movement. It's a story of people adapting, building, contributing, and dreaming. And yet, somehow, in today's debates, we often speak about migrants, about refugees as if they were different from us."

Richard Gere was particularly struck by a word that had apparently come across his desk ahead of the speech.

"I think the term I was actually given today, apparently, the US government is calling aliens. Aliens. That's the latest. It had been vermin, now it's aliens. I'm deeply ashamed of this, I want you to know," shared Gere.

He wrapped up that portion of his remarks by circling back to what he believes connects all people, sharing that

"They belong to another category of human beings, as if their hopes and fears and aspirations were somehow less legitimate than our own. The simple truth that we're all connected by movement, by our own humanity, by journeys that have come before for us."

Richard Gere took aim at Trump and admitted that he didn't do enough to stop Trump's election win:

As per a report shared by Daily Mail, Gere's remarks at the Hertie School event weren't his only public criticism of Trump. The actor also appeared alongside activist Thor Halvorssen at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway, where he branded the president a "maniac."

Speaking to the audience there, Richard Gere said,

"We're living in the darkest moment that I've experienced on this planet. How is this even possible? Because we went to sleep. We didn't care. We didn't vote. We didn't really listen."

Richard Gere didn't spare himself either. He took a portion of the blame personally, sharing that he hadn't done enough work to "skillfully convince people" that it was "insane to elect this person as the president of the United States."

He also reflected on Donald Trump's first day back in office, saying,

"First day, this guy dismantled almost everything that was good about the U.S. government and the US people. We have to see the cues, this dictatorship of the monsters, how quickly it happens. We have to be vigilant."

Gere's feelings about the current political climate are far from new. Back in February 2025, he accepted an International Goya Award and used the moment to speak his mind, saying,

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"We're in a very dark place in America, where we have a bully, a thug, who's the president of the United States. But it's not just in the U.S., it's everywhere."

As per a report shared by Daily Mail, Gere and Silva had sold their expansive Connecticut ranch before the family packed up and headed to Silva's native Spain, settling in Madrid with their sons Alexander and James.

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