Former President Donald Trump reignited his decades-long feud with comedian Rosie O’Donnell on Saturday, posting on his Truth Social platform that he is “seriously considering” revoking her U.S. citizenship.
“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!”
The post sparked swift backlash, with legal experts pointing out that such a move would be unconstitutional. Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst and Georgetown Law professor, called Trump’s statement a clear example of “coercive expatriation,” which he said is “patently unconstitutional.”
“For good reasons, it is difficult to denaturalize a U.S. citizen and even harder to expatriate one,” Vladeck noted in an earlier legal commentary. “Congress has only authorized a narrow set of circumstances for such actions, and the Supreme Court has imposed strict constitutional limits — including judicial review — even in those rare cases.”
The White House has not yet responded to inquiries regarding Trump’s post.
O’Donnell appeared to have drawn Trump’s ire after she posted a viral TikTok video last weekend criticizing the former president’s response to the deadly Texas floods. In the video, she accused his administration of dismantling federal early warning systems and undermining weather forecasting capabilities, which she said hampered the emergency response.
The comedian, who was born in the United States, moved to Ireland shortly before Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. In an April interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown, O’Donnell said her decision to relocate was driven by concerns over a potential second Trump presidency.
“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 said. “I have no regrets. Not a day has gone by that I thought it was the wrong decision. I was welcomed with open arms.”
In response to Trump’s latest remarks, O’Donnell fired back on Instagram:
“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.”
She further addressed the controversy on Ireland’s RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday, calling Trump “a danger to the world.”
“I am proud to stand in opposition to everything he says, does, and represents,” she said. “He’s racist, misogynistic, and sexist. I know he can’t revoke my citizenship — but with the Supreme Court giving him so much unchecked power, who knows what he might try?”
O’Donnell also criticized Trump’s treatment of immigrants, saying, “He’s targeting people without due process. This isn’t the America I know. This isn’t democracy.”
The Trump-O’Donnell feud stretches back to at least 2006, when O’Donnell, then co-host of The View, called Trump a “snake-oil salesman on Little House on the Prairie” and accused him of going bankrupt — a claim Trump denied.
Over the years, Trump has responded with repeated insults, calling O’Donnell “a real loser,” “crude, rude, obnoxious, and dumb,” and “a pig.”
CNN’s Billy Stockwell contributed to this report.
