Donald Trump Threatens to Take Away Rosie O'Donnell's Citizenship

Former President Donald Trump has reignited one of his longest-running personal feuds — this time, in a way that’s causing legal scholars to speak out.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump said he is giving “serious consideration” to revoking Rosie O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship, claiming that she is “not in the best interests of our Great Country.” While O’Donnell has long been a vocal critic of Trump — dating back nearly 20 years — the president’s threat to strip citizenship from an American-born comedian marks a chilling escalation in rhetoric.

Legal experts, including scholars from Cornell and George Washington University, were quick to condemn the remark, reminding the public that a U.S. president has no authority to unilaterally revoke someone’s citizenship — especially someone born in the country.

📜 A Long and Bitter Public Feud

The hostility between Trump and O’Donnell is one of the most notorious celebrity-political clashes in modern American history. It began in 2006 when O’Donnell, then a host on The View, mocked Trump over his public defense of a scandal-ridden Miss USA winner. She called him a “snake-oil salesman” and questioned his fitness to serve as a role model for young women.

Trump responded with personal insults and threats of lawsuits. He called her a “loser,” “fat,” “a disaster,” and “a real problem” — insults he has recycled many times in the years since. During the first Republican debate of 2015, when questioned about his derogatory statements about women, Trump famously snapped, “Only Rosie O’Donnell.”

Since then, their feud has become symbolic: O’Donnell represents the kind of unfiltered, defiant criticism Trump despises, and he has never let it go.

🛂 The Legal Limits of Power

While Trump’s threats are mostly viewed as symbolic posturing, legal scholars quickly clarified that what he is suggesting is both dangerous and unconstitutional.

“A president cannot unilaterally revoke someone’s citizenship,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, immigration law professor at Cornell.

The Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling in Afroyim v. Rusk states that the U.S. government cannot revoke citizenship without the person’s consent, except in extreme cases of fraud. Even denaturalization requires a court process. Rosie O’Donnell was born in New York, making her a natural-born citizen — not someone who gained citizenship through naturalization.

Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University and a Fox News legal analyst, echoed this:

“I know of no basis that could be used to strip Rosie O'Donnell of citizenship.”

📣 Rosie O’Donnell Fires Back — From Ireland

In a pair of blistering Instagram posts, O'Donnell didn’t hold back. She said Trump “is a dangerous old soulless man with dementia who lacks empathy, compassion and basic humanity.” She cited his “criminal con-man” behavior and said he is “out to harm our nation to serve himself.”

She ended one post with a jab that quickly went viral:

“I'm everything you hate about what's still right with [America]… 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.”

O’Donnell confirmed she now lives in Ireland, where she is seeking dual citizenship through her Irish father. She moved shortly before Trump’s second inauguration and said she plans to return only when “it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights.”

💣 Distraction From Epstein?

Several political commentators believe Trump’s sudden outburst may be part of a calculated effort to distract from mounting questions about the Jeffrey Epstein case — especially as pressure builds on the U.S. government to release sealed documents connected to Epstein’s trafficking network.

Rosie O’Donnell herself posted a photo of Trump and Epstein on Instagram, reminding her followers of their connection. She captioned it:

“Hey Donald — you’re rattled again? 18 years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours.”

Commentators like Dean Obeidallah and Ed Krassenstein called out the double standard — that Epstein’s known associates are untouched while Trump wants to revoke the citizenship of a comedian.

🧠 Authoritarian Red Flags?

Trump’s statement sparked widespread backlash — not just from O’Donnell’s supporters, but from legal minds, civil rights activists, and political analysts who warned that this kind of rhetoric mirrors authoritarian regimes.

One popular post read:

“This is what leaders like Hitler would try to do… imagine if Biden said he was going to strip Trump of his citizenship. Imagine the outrage by MAGA. This is dangerous.”

Another wrote:

“And so it begins. Trump is now threatening to strip Rosie O'Donnell of her citizenship because she's ‘not in the best interests of our Great Country.’ They mocked us for saying he's a wannabe dictator.”

🧭 Final Thoughts

At a time when political tensions are running high, Trump’s threat to strip an American critic of their citizenship crosses a line — legally and morally. While the courts make clear he cannot follow through on it, the fact that a sitting president is even entertaining such a notion sends a powerful and disturbing signal about the direction of American democracy.

Rosie O'Donnell may be living in Ireland — but her message is still being heard loud and clear on this side of the Atlantic.