It's not clear what inspired the threat, which the president previously made in July
Two months after threatening to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's citizenship -- something, to be clear, U.S. presidents do not have the power to do -- Donald Trump is back at it, only this time pairing the threat with a petty visual insult.
In a post Wednesday evening on his Twitter clone, Truth Social, Trump shared a heavily altered photo of O'Donnell, manipulated to looks extremely unflattering. The image was coupled with the message, "as previously mentioned, we are gicing 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!"
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See that below, shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Yashar Ali:
It's unclear what, if anything, prompted Trump to make the statement Wednesday night. But the threat comes amid several ongoing Trump administration controversies, among them the deployment of military forces to cities in Blue States and the ongoing scandal over documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein, as well as the widespread conspiracy theories about his health that spread over the holiday weekend.
Trump previously made this threat in July, which like Wednesday's remarks didn't appear to have an immediate cause. O'Donnell and Trump have long publicly feuded however, and in March the comedian revealed she had moved to Ireland after the 2024 election, and that she was attempting to obtain Irish citizenship.
Speaking of that, there are very few circumstances under which a natural born citizen can lose their citizenship, and none of them involve decisions by the president.
A 1967 Supreme Court decision held that people born with American citizenship can only relinquish it voluntarily. And as explained on the official State Department website, this can potentially occur if someone becomes a naturalized citizen of another country after age 18, should duties to that country conflict with their duty as a U.S. citizen. It can also occur if someone swears allegiance to another country after age 18, if they join the military of a country at war with the United States, if they formally renounce U.S. citizenship, or if they accept jobs with a foreign government (under extremely specific circumstances).
In addition, being convicted in court "of performing an act of treason against the Government of the United States or for attempting by force to overthrow, or bear arms against, the Government of the United States" can also count.
But the United States also recognizes dual citizenship with many nations, including Ireland, as long as dual citizens "maintain their obligations to the United States."
In any event, as we noted, none of the triggering conditions for losing U.S. citizenship involve decisions by the president.