Comedian Rosie O’Donnell revived her longstanding feud with President Donald Trump on Monday while guest-hosting ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” delivering several pointed remarks aimed at the president.
O’Donnell opened by looking directly into the camera and saying, “Hi, I know you’re watching.” Later in the monologue, she joked, “Right now, he’s in the White House crying because I haven’t mentioned him.”
The comments were among the few direct references to Trump during the segment. O’Donnell, who moved to Ireland last year after Trump returned to the White House, instead spent much of the monologue talking about her new life near Dublin and the challenges of relocating with her then-11-year-old nonbinary child, Clay.
“I decided to move, and I took my little then-11-year-old kid with me, and I just said, whatever you do, don’t tell anyone because we don’t want a lot of press and a lot of paparazzi,” she told viewers. “So, please don’t tell anyone.”
Not appreciating the irony of hosting a show in the United States, Rosie O'Donnell kicks off her week of guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live by saying, "You know, I've been living in Ireland for the past two years because of Mango Mussolini. I read that Project 2025 and said, 'Got to… pic.twitter.com/PORReREYeH
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) August 18, 2026
“And they’re a pretty smart kid,” O’Donnell continued. “You know, they got it. They said, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t.’ And then went to school and proceeded to tell their entire class, ‘I’m very sorry I won’t be able to graduate sixth grade with you. I’m being forced to move to another country because the president of the United States hates my mother.’”
O’Donnell added that Clay told classmates, “I believe my mother hates him more.”
O’Donnell and Trump have traded insults publicly for nearly two decades, beginning years before Trump entered politics. O’Donnell has repeatedly criticized Trump and his policies, while Trump has frequently responded with personal attacks against the comedian.
Despite that history, O’Donnell largely stayed away from extended political commentary during Monday’s monologue. Her appearance came as ABC is engaged in a growing dispute with the Federal Communications Commission over the government’s scrutiny of the network.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has criticized ABC’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies and has raised the possibility of regulatory action involving broadcast licenses following critical comments about Trump and the agency by Kimmel and other ABC personalities.
ABC escalated the dispute Tuesday by filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC, arguing that the administration is attempting to punish the network over its reporting and political viewpoints.
O’Donnell’s brief remarks nevertheless brought one of Trump’s longest-running celebrity feuds back to late-night television, even as the comedian now lives across the Atlantic.
