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Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump have been feuding ever since he disagreed with comments she made on an episode of ‘The View’ in 2006
NEED TO KNOW
- Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump have been engaged in a feud since 2006
- The View co-host moved to Ireland shortly after Trump was inaugurated for the second time
- Trump has continued to criticize O’Donnell on social media
Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump have two decades worth of tumultuous history.
The comedian and the President began butting heads after a 2006 episode of The View. During a Hot Topics segment, O’Donnell — who was a host on the show at the time — criticized Trump for acting as a “moral authority” after Tara Conner won Miss USA, despite allegations of underage drinking and cocaine use.
“He annoys me on a multitude of levels. [He] left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair, had kids both times, but he’s the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America,” she said at the time. “Donald, sit and spin, my friend. I don’t enjoy him.”
Trump quickly responded to O’Donnell’s comments and called her “a woman out of control” in an interview with PEOPLE. Since then, their feud has only escalated, with Trump calling out O’Donnell several times on social media.
Most recently, O’Donnell credited her move to Ireland to Trump’s second inauguration as president in January 2025. He “has it out for me and has for 20 years, when I told the truth about him on a program called The View,” O’Donnell said during a March 2025 appearance on RTÉ’s Late Late Show. Trump has since threatened to revoke O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship.
When asked about how her life at 64 years old in a July 2026 interview with PEOPLE, O’Donnell said, “It’s glorious. When you’re 40 or 30, you’re worried all the time—am I doing it right? Now I don’t really care. It used to be when our President would say things about me, it would be like, whoa. If you had written this as a movie—a stand-up comic makes fun of a reality show host, and he ends up being the President, and then he doesn’t shut up about her for 20 years—it would be unbelievable. The fact that it’s my life is very trippy.”
So why do Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump have a feud? Here’s everything to know about the origins of their argument and why it has continued for nearly two decades.
How did Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump’s feud begin?
O’Donnell and Trump first began feuding in December 2006 after she called him out during a Hot Topics segment of The View. She referenced the controversy surrounding Miss USA winner Conner and Trump’s response in which he said, “I’ve always been a believer in second chances. Tara is a good person. Tara has tried hard. Tara is going to be given a second chance.”
On the show, O’Donnell mimicked Trump’s words, going on to then call him the “snake-oil salesman on Little House On The Prairie.”
“This is not a self-made man,” she said, referencing his successful father.
Trump responded in an interview with PEOPLE, claiming that his father “never gave [him] tons of money.”
“You can’t make false statements,” he added. “Rosie will rue the words she said. I’ll most likely sue her for making those false statements — and it’ll be fun. Rosie’s a loser. A real loser.”
How has Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump’s feud continued over the years?
Since then, the two have continued in a back-and-forth war of words, primarily on X (formerly Twitter). After O’Donnell announced her engagement to then-fiancée Michelle Rounds in December 2011, Trump wrote on X that he felt “sorry” for Rounds’ parents, calling O’Donnell a “loser” again.
Years later, Trump attacked O’Donnell on X once again after she opened up about her weight loss journey, calling her “not politically correct” for speaking publicly about it.
Later that year, O’Donnell told PEOPLE that the “bullying” she experienced — especially from Trump — had an emotional effect on her.
“Probably the Trump stuff was the most bullying I ever experienced in my life, including as a child,” she said. “It was national, and it was sanctioned societally. Whether I deserved it is up to your own interpretation.”
What happened to their feud when Donald Trump became president?
During his first presidential campaign, Trump continued to bring up O’Donnell, including at the first Republican presidential primary debate in August 2015 at which former Fox host Megyn Kelly asked the now-president about his use of language such as “fat pigs,” “dogs,” “slobs” and “disgusting animals” to describe women.
“Only Rosie O’Donnell,” he responded.
The former TV host’s name came up once again the following year as he faced off against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. “Somebody who has been very vicious to me, Rosie O’Donnell, I said very tough things to her and I think everybody would agree that she deserves it and nobody feels sorry for her,” he said.
O’Donnell later responded in a since-deleted post on X, calling him an “orange anus.”
After he was elected, O’Donnell admitted in an interview with W Magazine in October 2017 that she worried whether she would be able to “live through“ his presidency.
“It has taken me a full year to integrate the reality of him being a president in a way that I don’t come across as either so full of rage that no one can hear my words, or so sad that I can’t articulate the level of pain,” she said. “It’s taken a year for me to get my equilibrium back, to come back up to the surface.”
O’Donnell continued, “I seriously worry whether I personally will be able to live through [his presidency] and whether the nation will be able to live through it and survive. It’s a terrifying concept, on the brink of nuclear war with a madman in charge.”
The View alum didn’t hesitate to express her discontent, showing up at a protest outside the White House in August 2018.
What did Rosie O’Donnell say about leaving the U.S. because of Trump’s second term?
Following Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025, O’Donnell shared that she had left the U.S. for Ireland saying in a TikTok that she and her child, Clay, would consider returning when “it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America.”
Weeks later, she opened up on the Late Late Show that she was still shocked by how Trump has continued to reference their feud. “He was very angry to say the least, and he hasn’t let it go,” she said of her jabs against him in 2006. “And he sort of uses me as a punchline whenever he feels the need.”
Trump had his own commentary on O’Donnell’s emigration when Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin visited the White House for St. Patrick’s Day. After a reporter asked Martin why he would allow O’Donnell to move to Ireland, Trump said he “like[d]” that question before asking Martin if he knew who she was. Martin brushed off the question and Trump quipped that the leader was “better off” not knowing.
Regarding Trump continuing to call her out publicly, O’Donnell said, “He’s been doing it for two decades, and I’m still not used to it every time he does.”
In July 2025, Trump took to social media and announced that he’s “giving serious consideration” to revoking O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship.
“She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he wrote.
O’Donnell responded with a post on Instagram, writing, “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.”
Celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, responded to Trump’s comments, showing their support for the comedian.
Read the original article on People
