US comedian, actress and commentator Rosie O’Donnell has responded to remarks made about her by President Donald Trump during Taoiseach Micheál Martin's White House visit.
Her move from the United States to Ireland was raised by a reporter during the meeting, reigniting a long-running public feud.
Mr Martin appeared unsure when asked by the reporter: "Why in the world would you let Rosie O'Donnell move to Ireland?"
Mr Trump responded, saying: You're better off not knowing".
The comments have been widely reported across American media outlets and internationally.
Today, Ms O’Donnell published a poem called 'Hey Wait’ on her Substack account referencing what happened. It includes the lines:
"its me
doom scrolling my brain
the president of the united states
met with leader michael martin
doing ireland proud
as he withstood the insults
cheater
the cheater screamed
accusing others
of his crimes
this orange human
is this the best we have"
Ms O’Donnell’s name was raised in the Oval Office after a nearly 10-minute long video was posted on her TikTok account on Tuesday confirming that she had moved from the United States to Ireland in January.
It has had more than three million views.
She said: "I'm here in Ireland and it's beautiful and warm, not physically, it's actually quite cold," adding "moved here on Jan 15 and it's been pretty wonderful I have to say".
In the video, Ms O’Donnell said that she made the decision to move to Ireland because she and her 12-year-old child Clay "needed to take care of ourselves and make some hard decisions and follow through".
"I’m happy. Clay is happy. I miss my other kids. I miss my friends," the 62-year-old added.
"I miss many things about life there at home and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country and when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back."
Ms O’Donnell did not name President Trump directly in her TikTok post as the reason why she left the US, but she has been a longtime critic of him and the comments are being interpreted as a clear inference to his election for a second term.
Their public feud goes back decades and has captured many headlines over the years.
Starting in the 1990s, tensions between the pair escalated in 2006 when Ms O’Donnell was on The View talk show.
She was highly critical of Mr Trump’s role in beauty pageants, describing them as events "where women were paraded around judged, valuable or not, by old white men".
She then criticised him for his reaction in the aftermath of a media story when the then recently crowned Miss USA had been caught taking cocaine in a New York nightclub.
Mr Trump co-owned the pageant and said the contestant would be forgiven if she went to rehab.
On The View, Ms O’Donnell said that he was capitalising on a young woman’s drug problem.
Flipping her hair over her face, she did an impersonation of Mr Trump, questioning his role as a moral leader for young peole and his success as a businessman.
Asked about her comments by Anderson Cooper on his 360 show, President Trump said: "If you looked like Rosie, you’d be critical of beauty pageants too. Believe me. She’s a very unattractive women, both inside and out ... She’s a slob".
He also responded in a People magazine interview saying that: "Rosie’s a loser. A real loser".
Commenting that he would likely sue her for her critical remarks about his business achievements, Mr Trump added: "I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie".
The news that Ms O’Donnell had chosen to move to Ireland caught the attention of the American media earlier this week.
White House adviser Stephen Miller discussed her move on the Hannity show on Fox News, saying that President Trump forced her to "self-deport".
"It wasn’t explicitly one of our campaign promises, but it is a major first 100-day achievement," Mr Miller added.
Conservative journalist Brian Green, who is Chief White House correspondent for ‘Real America’s Voice’ raised the subject in the Oval Office yesterday.
Mr Green is also the journalist who asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky why he did not wear a suit to the White House.
Here is what happened during yesterday's exchange.
Mr Green asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin: "Ireland is known for very happy, fun-loving people, great attitude, many of them in this room right now. Why in the world would you let Rosie O’Donnell move to Ireland, I mean, she’s going to lower your happiness level?"
(laughter)
President Trump: "Thank you, I like that question".
He turned to Mr Martin saying: "Do you know you have Rosie O’Donnell? Do you know who she is?"
The Taoiseach put out his hands and indicated that he was unsure, looking bemused.
Mr Trump followed up again and pressed him asking: "Do you know who she is?"
Mr Martin was puzzled and said: "Eh…"
Mr Glenn could be heard saying: "I’m joking" and President Trump added: "You’re better off not knowing".
Ms O’Donnell is a high-profile media figure in the United States.
She has had a successful career spanning many decades in the film, television, theatre and publishing industries.
She started her career as a stand-up comedian and then found success on the big screen, appearing as Madonna’s sidekick in the baseball film A League of Their Own, before being cast as Meg Ryan’s best friend Becky in Sleepless in Seattle.
Other film roles included The Flintstones and Tarzan in 1999.
Ms O’Donnell acted in numerous hit TV drama series and appeared in a number of comedy shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm and Mom.
She presented The Rosie O’Donnell Show for NBC - an Emmy award winner - where she was hailed as 'The Queen of Nice’ and later was a co-host of The View.
In addition to comedy, film, and television, Ms O'Donnell has been a magazine editor, blogger and author of several memoirs, including Find Me and Celebrity Detox.
She continues to be a television producer and is a partner in the LGBT holiday company R Family Vacations.
A long-standing advocate for the LGBTQ community, she confirmed that she was gay in 2002, saying that her primary reason was to bring attention to lesbian rights and gay adoption.
In the TikTok post on Tuesday, Ms O’Donnell, who was born and raised on Long Island, said that she was "in the process of getting Irish citizenship as I have Irish grandparents".
She has a deep connection through her paternal grandparents who emigrated from Donegal to the US when her father, Edward Joseph O'Donnell, was a child.
It is unclear where she has set up home in Ireland, with rumours circulating that she is living in Dublin.
Ms O’Donnell is a mother of five, including four adult children whom she shares with ex-wife Kelli Carpenter, and her youngest child Clay O'Donnell Rounds, 12, whom she shares with her late ex-wife, Michelle Rounds.
She regularly publishes on Substack, the online platform that allows writers and other content creators to publish newsletters and establish a subscription-based audience.
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