Former President Donald Trump reignited his decades-long feud with comedian and actress Rosie O’Donnell over the weekend, declaring he is giving “serious consideration” to stripping her of U.S. citizenship — a claim with no apparent legal basis.
Posting on his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump called O’Donnell a “Threat to Humanity” and suggested she should stay in Ireland, where she recently relocated.
“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,” Trump wrote. “She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
O’Donnell, 63, moved to the seaside village of Howth, near Dublin, in January with her 12-year-old child, who is non-binary and autistic. The move followed Trump’s 2024 election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. O’Donnell has since announced that she and her child are seeking Irish citizenship.
In response to Trump’s latest attack, O’Donnell unleashed a series of Instagram posts criticizing the former president. One featured a photo of Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein. In another, she addressed Trump directly.
“Hey Donald – you’re rattled again? Eighteen years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours,” she wrote.
“You call me a threat to humanity – but I’m everything you fear: a loud woman, a queer woman. A mother who tells the truth. An American who got out of the country before you set it ablaze,” she added. “You are everything that is wrong with America… I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
There is no legal mechanism for a U.S. president to unilaterally revoke the citizenship of a natural-born American. Legal experts have noted that U.S. citizenship cannot be taken away simply because someone holds dual nationality or criticizes the government.
The O’Donnell–Trump feud dates back to 2006, when the actress mocked Trump on “The View” over his handling of the Miss USA scandal, calling him a “moral authority no one listens to.” Trump swiftly retaliated, calling her “a slob” and “disgusting both inside and out.”
In 2015, during a Republican primary debate, Trump defended past derogatory comments about women by saying, “Only Rosie O’Donnell.”
O’Donnell, a vocal critic of Trump throughout his political career, has cited her concerns over his leadership and her desire to support her child as reasons for leaving the U.S.
In interviews earlier this year, she told CNN and NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that relocating to Ireland was necessary for her mental health and her child’s well-being.
“It’s been heartbreaking and personally very, very sad to watch,” she said of Trump’s second term. “Coming to Ireland was totally a way to take care of myself and my non-binary autistic child.”
