Rosie O’Donnell Taunts Trump as She Guest Hosts ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

Rosie O’Donnell received a standing ovation as she made her guest-hosting debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday (August 17) and wasted no time in taunting President Donald Trump.

“Thank you, thank you,” the former View co-host said as the studio audience clapped and chanted her name. She responded by performing a mock version of Trump’s trademark fist-pumping dance moves.

“They said you can’t come home again, but here I am,” O’Donnell said, referring to her move to Ireland following Trump’s 2024 presidential election victory. In a social media post last year, the president threatened to take away O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship.

“And if you thought the president hated Jimmy Kimmel Live when it was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, buckle up, people, buckle up,” she continued to more rapturous applause.

She went on to say, “I’ve been living in Ireland for the past two years because of Mango Mussolini. I read that Project 2025 and said, ‘Got to get myself out of here. And I decided to go to Ireland, a place where people are driven to drink, regardless of who’s running their country.”

O’Donnell recalled telling her then 11-year-old kid, Clay, not to tell anyone about the move because she didn’t want the press. “They 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. But in all fairness, I believe my mother hates him more.’”

The A League of Their Own star then looked directly into the camera and waved, taunting, “Hi, I know you’re watching.”

As she wrapped up her monologue, O’Donnell took one more shot at Trump, saying, “And you know, right now he’s in the White House crying because I haven’t mentioned him.”

Notably, O’Donnell didn’t refer to Trump by name in her entire monologue, only calling him the president.

Kimmel previously announced O’Donnell would be serving as one of his guest hosts while he is on a two-month summer hiatus. “As a special treat for our commander-in-chief, I asked one of his all-time favorites, Rosie O’Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming,” he said.

The feud between O’Donnell and Trump has been going on for years. Last year, the Emmy-winning talk show host told the Irish network RTÉ’s The Late Late Show that the president has “had it out” for her for 20 years after she “told the truth about him on a program called The View.”

O’Donnell, who has been back in the spotlight in recent months, including performing her one-woman show, Common Knowledge, in New York City, told the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast last week that Trump is basically the one responsible for her resurgence.

“I think it’s [Trump] who did it,” she said. “He didn’t know. If he knew how much he was helping my career and life, he would shut up about me, because you know, he’s a horrible creature.”