Comedian and actress Rosie O’Donnell has once again ignited her long-standing feud with President Donald Trump, this time in response to his latest outburst on Truth Social where he suggested she should be stripped of her U.S. citizenship — a move blatantly prohibited under the Fourteenth Amendment.
“I’m proud to oppose every single thing he says and does,” O’Donnell told Ireland’s RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday, shortly after Trump’s inflammatory comments. The president lashed out at her following her sharp criticism of his administration’s response to the devastating floods in Texas, which have killed at least 129 people.
“She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her,” Trump posted.
O’Donnell wasted no time in hitting back. Hours later, she posted a photo on Instagram of Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein with the caption:
“Hey Donald – you’re rattled again? Eighteen years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours.”
The exchange comes amid growing unrest within Trump’s base following revelations from the DOJ and FBI that there is no “Epstein client list” and that the disgraced financier died by suicide—refuting long-held conspiracy theories that have circulated for years among MAGA supporters.
Asked why she gets under Trump’s skin so effectively, O’Donnell told RTÉ Radio 1:
“We grew up in the same place. I think I remind him of all the kids in school who never liked him. I’m a tough New York tomboy girl, and his crap never flew with me—or most New Yorkers.”
Indeed, both were raised in the New York metropolitan area—Trump in Queens, O’Donnell on Long Island. Their mutual disdain goes back to 2006, when O’Donnell, then a co-host on The View, criticized Trump’s support for scandal-ridden Miss USA Tara Conner, calling him “a snake-oil salesman from Little House on the Prairie.”
Trump, infuriated, responded with threats of lawsuits and has repeatedly mocked O’Donnell ever since. One of his most infamous attacks came during the first GOP presidential debate in 2015. When confronted by moderator Megyn Kelly about derogatory names he’d used for women, Trump interrupted with,
“Only Rosie O’Donnell.”
Despite years of insults, O’Donnell has refused to back down. She says her move to Ireland was driven by “self-preservation” but insists she still believes in America’s ideals—just not its current leadership.
“I still believe the United States is meant to be a beacon of hope and freedom,” she said. “But we have to own the truth of our failures—especially when it comes to Donald Trump.”
The White House fired back with typical bluster. In a statement to The Daily Beast, Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson dismissed O’Donnell’s remarks, saying:
“Rosie’s unhinged rants are a symptom of late-stage Trump Derangement Syndrome. Thank goodness she’s no longer in the United States.”
O’Donnell says she’s unfazed by such responses and counts herself among the artists and activists like Taylor Swift and Robert De Niro who have consistently spoken out against Trump.
“There are people in public life who’ve always used their voices to stand against injustice,” she said. “He doesn’t like any of us. But we’re not going anywhere.”
As Trump faces internal rebellion over the Epstein controversy and growing backlash over his administration’s flood response, O’Donnell seems to relish her role as a permanent thorn in his side—one he just can’t ignore.