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Rosie O'Donnell may have moved to Ireland, but she hasn't distanced herself from a longstanding public feud with President Donald Trump.
In a new interview with People magazine, the comedian likened her decades-long quarrel with Trump to "20 years of him using me as a punchline."
Trump and O'Donnell's feud dates back to 2006, when the latter was a host on "The View." She criticized Trump as a "snake oil salesman" in connection to his ownership of the Miss USA competition at the time, setting off years of back-and-forth spats between the two.
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In 2025, as Trump began his second presidency, O'Donnell revealed she moved to Ireland to escape the United States' political climate. The president has since threatened to revoke O'Donnell's birthright citizenship on multiple occasions.
Rosie O'Donnell calls Trump her 'arch nemesis'
O'Donnell opened up to the outlet about relocating overseas last year, saying she is "softer" in part because she is "not being constantly bombarded by news about the current president."
"I think that has allowed me to reclaim myself, who I was before all that went down, even though it’s very strange to have supposedly the most powerful man in the world be your arch nemesis," she said.
She also hinted at being apathetic towards the president's jabs, saying, "It used to be when our president would say things about me, it would be like, whoa."
But O'Donnell also described the situation as hard to believe.
"If you had written this as a movie – a stand-up comic makes fun of a reality show host who is a bloviating idiot and he ends up being the president, and then he doesn’t shut up about her for 20 years – it would be unbelievable," she said. "And the fact that it’s my life is very trippy."
Trump recently targeted Rosie O'Donnell in social media video
O'Donnell's latest comments come weeks after being the subject of a video Trump posted on social media.
In the AI-generated video, which was posted July 2, Trump appears as a doctor "treating" several celebrities, including O'Donnell, for "Trump Derangement Syndrome." Trump has long used the term to describe critics he sees as irrationally opposed to him.
The comedian responded in a July 8 interview with Variety, calling Trump "the worst thing that ever happened to our country."
Contributing: Anthony Robledo and KiMi Robinson
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rosie O'Donnell says long-standing Trump feud is 'very strange'
