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Former TV show host Rosie O’Donnell insists she was “not fazed” by President Donald Trump‘s threat to revoke her U.S. citizenship, accusing him of subjecting her to “20 years of abuse,” while branding him a “tangerine Mussolini.”
The 63-year-old took to TikTok to assure fans that she is “safe” in Ireland—where she moved in early 2025, later claiming that she had done so in response to Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election.
O’Donnell, who is known for being an outspoken critic of Trump and his policies, added further fuel to her ongoing feud with the president in her latest video, in which she spoke out about a social media post in which he warned he was giving “serious consideration” to revoking her rights as a U.S. citizen.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump also labeled “The View” alum as a “threat to humanity” and said that he does not believe she is “in the best interests of our great country.”
Initially, O’Donnell responded to the threat with her own written statement, which she posted on her Instagram account alongside a picture of Trump posing with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein while warning the president: “I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Now, she has continued their bitter war of words, this time with a lengthy TikTok rant, in which she said she has no plans to “renounce her U.S. citizenship,” while telling Trump that she has no plans to “shut up” about his so-called “abuse.”
“I’m good, I’m safe here in Ireland. I’m out of the reach of the tangerine Mussolini,” O’Donnell began her video.
(rosie/TikTok)
O’Donnell noted that the president’s threat about her citizenship didn’t come as a surprise to her, claiming: “I have to say that I was expecting him to do something as absurd as he did, for a few reasons.”
Among those reasons was Project 2025, a federal policy agenda that was authored by several former Trump staffers and published by the conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation.
“Number one, I read Project 2025,” O’Donnell continued. “Number two, I’ve had 20 years of abuse from him, so I knew it wasn’t gonna stop. And number three, I know myself well enough to know that I wasn’t gonna shut up.”
The former TV star then told fans that she has every intention of holding onto her U.S. citizenship as she continues her attempt to gain dual citizenship in Ireland.
“I will never renounce my American citizenship. I am waiting happily for my Irish citizenship so that I can be a dual citizen, but I will never renounce my American citizenship, ever,” she said.
O’Donnell ended the clip by confirming that she made the decision to move across the pond with her 12-year-old child Dakota “Clay” O’Donnell, who is non-binary, out of a desire to keep both of them “safe.”
“I knew that coming to Ireland would keep me safe, and getting out of the United States was a necessity because my heart couldn’t take the pain of what he was going to do and what he, in fact, has done,” she said.
The message is the latest in an ongoing war of words that have been shared between the president and O’Donnell.
Just a few days ago, Trump took to X to publicly bash the former TV personality, writing: “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!”
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(rosie/TikTok)
O’Donnell then penned her own fiery retort, mockingly stating that she was surprised how easily she had “rattled” the president, while accusing him of being afraid of her.
“Hey Donald—you’re rattled again? 18 years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours. 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 b4 u set it ablaze,” she railed.
“You crave loyalty—I teach my children to question power you sell fear on golf courses—I make art about surviving trauma you lie, you steal, you degrade—I nurture, I create, I persist. You are everything that is wrong with America… I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
O’Donnell received an outpouring of support from a number of celebrities after sharing her response—including comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who herself relocated from the U.S. to the U.K. with her wife, Portia de Rossi, at the end of 2024, with many suggesting that the move was also motivated by Trump’s victory in the presidential election.
Posting a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post alongside O’Donnell’s retort, DeGeneres simply wrote: “Good for you, Rosie.”
O’Donnell first revealed that she had left the U.S. back in January—explaining at the time that she was in the process of applying for Irish citizenship, a status that she is eligible for thanks to her Irish grandparents.
The comedian is currently living in a rented property with her youngest child while she attempts to obtain her Irish citizenship—a process that she says has made her reluctant to discuss her new home out of concern that it could cause problems with her approval.
The former TV show host has been embroiled in a bitter feud with Trump since 2006, when the two began a furious debate about his decision to show leniency toward Miss USA Tara Conner, who was accused of drug use.
O’Donnell hammered Trump as a hypocrite after he initially criticized Conner, before later U-turning, prompting the then-businessman to fire back, branding “The View” host “fat” and “a slob” in a furious tirade.
The pair’s bitter spat then continued for many years.
It is unclear on what basis Trump would revoke O’Donnell’s citizenship; however, under the current law, Americans can retain their U.S. citizenship even if they are granted citizenship in a different country.