A Longtime Feud Reignited
In a move that sparked nationwide outrage and legal confusion, President Donald Trump threatened to revoke comedian Rosie O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship, labeling her a “threat to humanity.” The announcement came Saturday morning through his social media platform Truth Social, where he claimed he was “giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship” because she was “not in the best interests of our Great Country.”
The feud between Trump and O’Donnell dates back nearly two decades. It began in 2006 when O’Donnell publicly mocked Trump on “The View” for defending a Miss USA contestant. Since then, Trump has frequently insulted O’Donnell, famously saying during a 2015 Republican debate that he only called women derogatory names “when it came to Rosie O’Donnell.”
O’Donnell Fires Back from Ireland
Now residing in Ireland after Trump’s re-election, O’Donnell wasted no time in hitting back. On Instagram, she called Trump a “criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself.” She also posted a photo of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein, calling him “King Joffrey with a tangerine spray tan,” referencing the infamous villain from Game of Thrones.
Her relocation to Ireland in January was, according to her, a protest against Trump’s second-term presidency.
No Legal Ground for Citizenship Revocation
Experts quickly dismissed Trump’s claim, pointing out that the president has no legal authority to revoke the citizenship of a U.S.-born citizen.
Julia Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institute clarified, “Federal courts can strip naturalized citizens of their citizenship if there’s proven fraud, but U.S.-born citizens cannot have their citizenship taken away.”
Amanda Frost, a legal scholar from the University of Virginia, further reinforced this, citing the 1967 Supreme Court ruling Afroyim v. Rusk. The Court had declared that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause prevents the government from revoking someone’s citizenship, affirming that “the people are sovereign and the government cannot sever its relationship to the people.”
A Pattern of Political Targeting
Trump’s comments on O’Donnell are part of a broader trend of targeting public figures who oppose him. He previously suggested deporting Elon Musk—despite Musk being a naturalized citizen—and claimed without evidence that NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was an illegal immigrant.
Trump also accused celebrities like Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé of engaging in “corrupt and unlawful” behavior for supporting Kamala Harris during the last presidential election, calling for “major investigations” into their actions.
Conclusion
As legal experts and civil rights advocates dismiss the threat as baseless, the latest Trump-O’Donnell clash reflects a broader pattern in which the president leverages public platforms to lash out at critics—no matter how outlandish the consequences he threatens may be.
