Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell have never hidden their dislike for one another. Their long-running feud, dating back nearly two decades, has taken a new turn as the President of the United States recently threatened to revoke the comedian’s citizenship — a move that sparked both outrage and ridicule.
O’Donnell, who relocated to Ireland earlier this year, cited Trump’s re-election and the looming impact of Project 2025 as her reasons for leaving the U.S. “I knew after reading Project 2025 that if Trump got in, it was time for me and my nonbinary child to leave the country,” she explained in an interview with CNN. “I have no regrets. Not a day has gone by that I thought it was the wrong decision. I was welcomed with open arms.”
Their animosity dates back to 2006, when O’Donnell — then a host on The View — called Trump a “snake-oil salesman on Little House On The Prairie” and accused him of filing for bankruptcy. Trump fired back with characteristic venom, threatening to sue her and labeling her with a string of insults, including “loser,” “pig,” and “dumb.” At the time, he told the press, “Rosie’s a loser. A real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice, fat little Rosie.”
That verbal war has continued over the years, occasionally resurfacing when one or the other makes headlines. But this time, it escalated in an unexpected direction.
On Saturday, Trump took to Truth Social and posted a shocking statement about O’Donnell:
“Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” he wrote. “She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
The idea of stripping O’Donnell of her citizenship raised immediate legal red flags. Steve Vladeck, a constitutional law expert and Supreme Court analyst for CNN, called Trump’s threat “patently unconstitutional.” He explained that coercive expatriation — the forced removal of citizenship — is heavily restricted under U.S. law. “For good reasons, it is difficult to denaturalize a U.S. citizen and even harder to expatriate one,” Vladeck wrote. “Congress has provided for only a handful of circumstances in which the executive branch is empowered to pursue such a move.”
Rosie O’Donnell wasted no time responding. She took to Instagram with a biting comeback:
“you want to revoke my citizenship? go ahead and try, king joffrey with a tangerine spray tan. i’m not yours to silence. i never was.”
The following day, O’Donnell appeared on RTE Radio 1 in Ireland, where she doubled down on her views. “I am very proud to be opposed to every single thing he says and does and represents,” she stated, describing Trump as a “danger to the world.”
“I think he’s a racist and he’s misogynistic and he’s sexist,” she added. As for the threat to strip her of citizenship, O’Donnell acknowledged that the legality was shaky — but said she didn’t underestimate Trump’s willingness to overreach. “I know he can’t do that, but the Supreme Court has given him unbridled powers, and who knows what he can and can’t do,” she said. “This is not America. This is not democracy.”
For Rosie O’Donnell, the decision to leave the U.S. was more than symbolic — it was about safety, identity, and protest. And though she’s thousands of miles away, her voice remains a sharp and unflinching critique of the man she’s clashed with for nearly twenty years.
The drama continues to play out in the public eye, stirring conversations about free speech, power, and patriotism in a time of intense political polarization.
