Donald Trump has landed in hot water once again—this time over a fiery claim that he could strip comedian Rosie O’Donnell of her U.S. citizenship. But experts say the president’s threat is not only outrageous, it’s impossible.
The 79-year-old president reignited his decades-long feud with O’Donnell, 63, last month when he took to Truth Social to share an altered photo of the actress with exaggerated facial features. Alongside the image, Trump wrote, “As previously mentioned, we are giving serious thought to taking away Rosie O’Donnell’s Citizenship. She is not a Great American and is, in my opinion, incapable of being so!
Rosie O’Donnell on Donald Trump: “It’s worse every day. I feel like we’re in a dystopian nightmare and no one is doing anything about it. He’s a criminal con man. There’s no way you can look at the facts about this man and believe in him. You have to have willful blindness.” pic.twitter.com/kcSWAqvSBv
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) August 2, 2025
Rosie O’Donnell didn’t stay quiet. The outspoken comedian fired back, saying she had already fled the U.S. after Donald Trump’s re-election and was now applying for Irish citizenship. But according to former U.S. diplomat Michael Montgomery, Trump’s threats are all bark and no bite. Speaking to the Irish Star, he said, “Although President Trump has certainly said he’d consider cancelling Rosie O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship, he can’t actually do that – no President can.”
Montgomery added, “It is nearly impossible for a native born US citizen to involuntarily lose their citizenship and Rosie O’Donnell was born in the US.” He went on to explain that, “To do that, a person would need to enlist in a hostile foreign military or run for foreign office (under some limited circumstances) and it is not very likely that anyone – let alone a celebrity with sophisticated advisors – would do either of those things without first considering their potential impact on citizenship.”
Rosie O’Donnell left the country and moved to Ireland due to Trump being President. We discussed on Gutfeld! #Comedy #Gutfeld #AdamHunter pic.twitter.com/XMpzwWQuVB
— Adam Hunter (@AdamComedian) October 30, 2025
Attorney Jamie E. Wright backed that up, saying, “As far as Donald Trump is concerned, he can’t legally take away her U.S. citizenship.” She pointed to the Constitution, explaining that, “That amendment confers citizenship upon anyone born in the United States, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that it can never be taken away as either punishment or for political reasons. The only way an American can lose citizenship is to voluntarily renounce it.”
Wright said if someone wanted to renounce their citizenship, “this would have to be initiated with an official notice at a U.S. embassy abroad, followed by written confirmation that the decision was not made under duress.” She added, “Trump can talk about it all he’d like, but such a threat would have no constitutional force. In fact, Rosie could hold dual citizenship with no problems whatever, and any talk of ‘canceling’ her U.S. citizenship would be pure political theatrics.”
Rosie, who has never hidden her disdain for Donald Trump, told the Daily Telegraph, “I am applying and about to be approved for my Irish citizenship, as my grandparents were from there and that’s all you need. It will be good to have my Irish citizenship, especially since Trump keeps threatening to take away mine.”
Wright also explained how Rosie could legally make that happen: “Rosie O’Donnell could technically get Irish citizenship but with a major caveat.” She said, “Ireland lets those who were born outside the country claim citizenship through descent, usually if one of their parents or grandparents was born in Ireland.”
If that’s the case, “she can register in the Foreign Births Register and become an Irish citizen.” The process, Wright said, involves submitting proof of lineage and waiting for government approval. “If she doesn’t meet the ancestry requirement, naturalization is her only option, a process that demands many years of residency in Ireland and proof that you are of good character. So yes, it can happen, but not by default.”
