Rosie O’Donnell admits secret return to US to ‘see if it was safe’ after Trump citizenship threat

Rosie O’Donnell has revealed she secretly returned to the US to test the waters after President Trump threatened to revoke her citizenship following her move to Ireland last year.

The 63-year-old former talk show host announced in March 2025 that she moved to Ireland after Trump’s second inauguration, saying she did not feel safe under Trump’s leadership and was concerned about her family’s well-being.

The move comes amid a long-running feud with Trump dating back to his days as a co-host on The View. In July, the former president publicly threatened to strip O’Donnell of her citizenship.

Talking about SiriusXM’s Cuomo Mornings On Friday, O’Donnell announced that he was quietly returning to the United States for a brief visit.

‘I went home for two weeks recently and didn’t actually tell anyone. “I just went to see my family,” he said.

‘I wanted to see how difficult it would be for me to get in and out of the country. I wanted to feel what it felt like.’

The former talk show host announced her move to Ireland following Donald Trump’s second inauguration in March 2025; (Trump in February)

‘I wanted to hold my children again,’ she told Cuomo.

The mother of five left the US with her youngest, Clay, in January 2025, while her four older children – Parker, 29, Blake, 25, Chelsea, 27, and Vivienne, 22 – remained in America.

“And I wasn’t home for over a year,” O’Donnell said. ‘Also, before I brought my daughter to school this summer, I wanted to make sure it was safe for me where my family and I planned to spend the summer break when she was off school.’

The star added that one of her adult sons is expecting her first child, leaving her ‘so excited to be home’.

He spent his two-week visit in New York, describing it as ‘a very different country’.

‘[It’s] It’s a very different place for me because I haven’t watched the news for a year. I don’t watch American culture television. “I was in a place where there was no celebrity worship,” he said, noting that his new life in Ireland provided “more balance.”

“I don’t regret leaving at all,” O’Donnell said. ‘I think I did what I had to do to save myself, my child and my sanity.’

He also admitted that the energy he felt in the United States was disturbing.

‘I went home for two weeks recently and didn’t actually tell anyone. “I just went to see my family,” O’Donnell said, adding: “I wanted to see how difficult it would be for me to get in and out of the country.” ‘I wanted to feel what it felt like’

“I don’t regret leaving at all,” O’Donnell said, adding, “I think I did what I had to do to save myself, my child and my mental health.”

‘The energy I felt when I was in the United States… it was scary,’ he said. ‘There’s a feeling that something is really wrong and no one is doing anything about it.’

Despite moving abroad, Trump announced in July 2025 that he was “seriously considering” revoking her US citizenship.

“Due to the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interest of our Great Country, I am seriously considering stripping her of her Citizenship,” he wrote.

‘He is a Threat to Humanity and if they want him he must stay in the great Land of Ireland. GOD BLESS AMERICA!’

O’Donnell hit back on Instagram, writing: ‘The president of the United States has always hated me seeing him for what he is; ‘a convicted sex offender who wants to harm our nation to serve himself.’

‘That’s why I moved to Ireland,’ he continued. ‘He is a dangerous old soulless man with dementia who lacks empathy, compassion and basic humanity; I directly oppose it.’ [to] everything he represents, so do millions of others.’

Meanwhile, O’Donnell also got candid about her dramatic weight loss since moving to Ireland.

The 63-year-old man stated that he lost a significant amount of weight while taking the diabetes medication Mounjaro, which was a major factor in his transformation.

‘I lost more weight here. “I’m on Mounjaro because of my diabetes and one of the side effects is that you lose weight,” he joked in a TikTok video.

The former Rosie O’Donnell Show host also shared her surprise at finding a slimmer body along with her changing health.

‘I’m one of those people who’s always had weight issues and I find it shocking that I’m now a size larger rather than an XL or XXL. I really want to. “I find this completely shocking,” he said.