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The comedian said she has begun to “reclaim” herself after leaving the United States for Ireland following Trump’s reelection.
Key Points
- Rosie O’Donnell is unpacking the impact of her longstanding feud with President Donald Trump.
- The comedian says she is basically suffering from PTSD after years of being a “punchline” for “supposedly the most powerful man in the world.”
- But the actress has begun to “reclaim” herself after leaving the United States for Ireland following Trump’s reelection.
Rosie O’Donnell is beginning to “reclaim” herself after years of weathering a traumatizing feud with President Donald Trump.
“I am softer, I think, as a result of being there,” O’Donnell told PEOPLE in a recent interview, referencing her move to Ireland in the wake of Trump’s 2024 reelection. “Of the welcome that we got, and as a result of me not being constantly bombarded by news about the current president.”
The 64-year-old comedian, who was a frequent critic of Trump long before his move to politics, added that these days she feels less concerned about what everyone thinks of her — including the president.
“It used to be when our president would say things about me, it would be like, whoa,” O’Donnell explained. “First of all, 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 — and the fact that it’s my life is very trippy.”
O’Donnell went on to say that she didn’t understand the severity of how the feud had impacted her until her move to Ireland.
“It’s like a post-traumatic stress disorder for me, considering it’s been 20 years of him using me as a punchline,” she shared. “And so 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 archnemesis.”
Trump and O’Donnell have been battling it out long before he stepped into office, with the feud dating back to O’Donnell’s brief stint as a cohost of The View in the mid-2000s. The pair routinely fired vicious posts back and forth on the social media site formerly known as Twitter. But as Trump rose in the political sphere, the acrimony reached a new level.
During his first election cycle, Trump brought up O’Donnell’s name while answering a 2015 debate question from conservative broadcaster Megyn Kelly, who asked him about disparaging women he didn’t like using phrases like “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.” Trump cut her off, quipping: “Only Rosie O’Donnell.”
In 2024, amid his second election cycle, O’Donnell described Trump as “a cruel criminal and mentally unstable man.” She added, “I think he’s the worst thing that ever happened to the United States. His cruelty knows no bounds. When he’s upset and humiliated and embarrassed, he has no control and he goes apes---.”
The following year, O’Donnell said that telling “the truth” about Trump during her tenure on The View is why the president resents her to this day. “I mentioned his bankruptcies and I mentioned all of the sexual assault charges,” she said on RTÉ’s Late Late Show in 2025. “And I mentioned that he was not, in fact, the businessman that everyone thinks he is because of the show, The Apprentice, where they sold a bunch of lies to America for over 10 years and half of America believed it.”
The tension escalated to a point where — after her move to Ireland — Trump threatened to revoke the comedian’s United States citizenship, calling her “a threat to humanity” and noting that she should remain in Ireland, “if they want her.”
Despite the threat and ongoing feud, O’Donnell is now preparing to return to the U.S. for her one-woman show, Common Knowledge, in New York. O’Donnell has even shared that she is considering a move back to the U.S. to be closer to her kids after her son Blake welcomed a baby boy in March.
In the meantime, O’Donnell is set to guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for one week in August while the titular comedian is away on vacation. Fittingly, Kimmel is another nemesis of Trump’s, who frequently criticizes and trades barbs with the president.
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“I’m very happy that he asked me,” O’Donnell said of Kimmel. “I admire him. I admire his tenacity and strength. I admire his conviction to speak out against this political terrorism that’s happening in our country and I stand beside him and will. And so I was thrilled when he asked me. I want to honor him and do my best and I hope everyone tunes in.”
She added, “I am a very patriotic American. I love this country.”
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
