Rosie O’Donnell secretly returned to the United States on a reconnaissance mission following President Donald Trump’s threats to revoke her citizenship.
“I recently went home for two weeks and I did not 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 see how hard it would be for me to get in and out of the country,” she added. “I wanted to feel what it felt like. I wanted to hold my children again. And I hadn’t been home in over a year.”
The former talk show host also shared that she had practical reasons for the trip.
“I also wanted to make sure that it was safe for me before I brought my daughter this summer, where we plan to spend the summertime off from her schooling here with my family,” she further explained.
O’Donnell — who left the states in January 2025 with her youngest child, Clay, 13, for a life in Ireland — is also mom to adult kids Parker, 29, Blake, 25, Chelsea, 27, and Vivienne, 22.
She said she experienced “a very different country” upon her return, admitting that “for a year, I haven’t been watching the news.”
“I’ve been in a place where celebrity worship does not exist,” she said, adding that life in Ireland gives her “more balance.” She also told Cuomo that she doesn’t “regret leaving at all.”
“I think I did what I needed to do to save myself, my child and my sanity,” she explained. O’Donnell, 63, described the “energy” she felt while visiting the US as “scary.”
“There’s a feeling that something is really wrong, and no one is doing anything about it,” she said.
“The View” alum and Trump have been feuding for years — but the rift, caused by opposing political views, came to a head when the president took to his Truth Social platform in July 2025 to threaten the actress’s US citizenship with a strongly-worded screed.
“Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” he wrote at the time.
“She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA.”
In an Instagram post, the comedian responded with strong words of her own.
“The president of the usa has always hated the fact that i see him for who he is – a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself – this is why i moved to ireland,” she captioned the upload in part.
She added that she stands “in direct opposition all [sic] he represents,” and asked “u gonna deport all who stand against ur eveil tendencies.”
Adding the hashtag #Nevertrump, she concluded the post by labeling the president a “bad joke who cant form a coherent sentence.”
Also in July, O’Donnell took to TikTok to declare she would “never” give up her citizenship.
“I’m not that worried,” she insisted in the fiery video rant. “However, the Supreme Court has given him unbridled powers.”
She said she “will always be” an American, adding, “I will never renounce my American citizenship. I am waiting happily for my Irish citizenship so that I can be a dual citizen, but I will never renounce my American citizenship. Ever.”
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