Rosie O’Donnell secretly returned to the United States on a reconnaissance mission after President Donald Trump threatened to revoke her citizenship.
“I went home for two weeks recently and I didn’t really tell anyone. I just went to see my family,” the comedian recently told Chris Cuomo during an appearance on “SiriusXM’s Cuomo Mornings.”
“I wanted to know how difficult it is to get in and out of this country,” she added. “I wanted to feel what it felt like. I wanted to hug my kids again. And I hadn’t been home in over a year.”
The former talk show host also said there were practical reasons for the trip.
“I also wanted to make sure it was safe here before I brought my daughter this summer. She will be spending the summer of her schooling here with her family,” she further explained.
O’Donnell, who left the United States in January 2025 with her youngest son Clay, 13, to live in Ireland, is also the mother of grown-up children Parker, 29, Blake, 25, Chelsea, 27, and Vivian, 22.
She said she experienced “a completely different country” upon her return and admitted that she “didn’t watch the news for a year.”
“I was in a place where celebrity worship didn’t exist,” she said, adding that living in Ireland gave her “more balance.” She also told Mr. Cuomo that she had “no regrets about leaving.”
“I think I did what I needed to do to protect myself, my child and my sanity,” she explained. Ms O’Donnell, 63, described the “energy” she felt during her visit to the US as “terrifying”.
“I feel like something is really wrong, but no one is doing anything about it,” she said.
The View alum and President Trump have been feuding for years, but the rift caused by their opposing political views came to light in July 2025 when Trump took to the Truth social platform and threatened Trump’s U.S. citizenship in strong terms.
“Due to the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interest of our great country, I am seriously considering revoking her citizenship,” he wrote at the time.
“She is a threat to humanity and if they want her she should stay in this great country of Ireland. God bless America.”
In an Instagram post, the comedian responded with powerful words of her own.
“The President of the United States has always hated the fact that I see him for what he is: a criminal con artist liar who sexually abuses to harm the country in order to serve himself. This is why I moved to Ireland,” she captioned part of the upload.
He added that he stands in “direct opposition to everyone (sic) he represents” and asked, “Are you going to deport everyone who opposes your veiled tendencies?”
She ended her post by adding the hashtag #Nevertrump and labeling the president a “bad joke who can’t form a coherent sentence.”
Also in July, O’Donnell declared on TikTok that she would “never” renounce her citizenship.
“I’m not that worried,” she claimed in the video’s fiery rant. “But the Supreme Court gave him unlimited authority.”
“I will always be an American,” she said, adding, “I will never renounce my American citizenship. I am happy to receive Irish citizenship so I can have dual citizenship, but I will never renounce my American citizenship. Never will.”
