Rosie O’Donnell returns to US for family visit after moving to Ireland

Rosie O’Donnell has quietly returned to the United States following her self-imposed political exile in Ireland following the re-election of President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Chris Cuomo on his new show “SiriusXM’s Cuomo Mornings,” the 63-year-old actor revealed that he recently returned to the country to visit his family. The actor moved to Ireland with his teenage daughter in January 2025, just before President Trump’s second inauguration.

“I was home recently for two weeks and didn’t tell anyone,” she told Cuomo. “I went to see my family. 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 wanted to hold my children again. And I hadn’t been home for over a year.”

She later shared that she “wanted to make sure it was safe” for her and her daughter to come back over the summer so they could be with their families during the school holidays.

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While speaking to Cuomo, he described how America “feels like a very different country” to him compared to when he lived here because he didn’t “watch the news” or follow “American cultural television” while living in Ireland.

“I’ve been in a place where there’s no celebrity worship,” he explained. “I was in a place where the news was more balanced. There’s more balance in life. Not everyone is trying to get more, more, more. It’s a very different culture. And I felt different than I ever did before I left the United States.”

O’Donnell claimed that she had “no regrets about leaving” and felt that she did “what I had to do to save myself, my child and my sanity.”

O’Donnell added that he had no regrets about moving to Ireland. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for Tinderbox Productions)

ROSIE O’DONNELL SAYS HER DAUGHTER ACCUSES TRUMP OF FORCING THEIR FAMILY TO MOVE FROM AMERICA

“And I’m so glad I wasn’t in the middle of it because the energy I felt when I was in the United States was — to use the simplest word I can think of — frightening,” he added. “There’s a feeling that something is really wrong and no one is doing anything about it.”

The feud between O’Donnell and President Trump dates back 20 years, when President Trump criticized Trump on “The View.” They continued to punch each other over the years; O’Donnell on his Irish radio show“Sunday with Miriam” “He’s using me as a punching bag and a way to annoy his base.”

After announcing her move to Ireland, the star shared that she had applied for Irish citizenship during an interview in the UK. Daily Telegraph In October 2025.

“What great news for America!” White House press secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital the news at the time.

Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump (Getty Images)

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President Trump had previously threatened to revoke O’Donnell’s American citizenship through her posts on Truth Social.

“Because Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interest of our Great Country, I am seriously considering stripping her of her Citizenship,” he wrote in July 2025.

He then renewed his threats in September 2025, writing: “He is not a Great American and I don’t think he can be!”

O’Donnell responded to the president’s threats by using the Constitution as his defense against the President.

President Trump threatened to revoke O’Donnell’s citizenship. (Getty Images)

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“He can’t do that because it’s against the Constitution and not even the Supreme Court gave him the right to do that. … He’s not allowed to do that. The only way you’re allowed to take away someone’s citizenship is if they renounce their citizenship, and I will never renounce my American citizenship,” the “Now and Then” star said. “I am a proud citizen of the United States of America.

“I also get my citizenship from here so I can have dual citizenship in Ireland and the United States because I enjoy living here,” he added. “It’s very peaceful. I love the politics of the country. I love the people, their generous hearts and spirits. And it’s been very good for my daughter. But I still want to keep my United States citizenship. My children are there. I’ll be there, too, and I’ll go see them. And like every American citizen, I have the freedom to do that.”

Under the United States Constitution, a president has no authority to revoke the citizenship of a person born in this country; This means that O’Donnell’s citizenship is protected by the 14th Amendment since he was born in New York.

Rosie O’Donnell has been one of the most prominent critics of President Donald Trump in the entertainment industry. (Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

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