Rosie O’Donnell Says Return Trip To US Felt “Scary” After Settling In Ireland

Comedian and longtime queer activist Rosie O’Donnell has revealed she quietly returned to the United States for the first time in more than a year, describing the visit as emotionally charged and, in her words, “scary”.

Speaking on Cuomo Mornings on SiriusXM, O’Donnell said the trip was intentionally low profile. “I recently went home for two weeks and I did not really tell anyone. I just went to see my family,” she explained.

“I wanted to see how hard it would be for me to get in and out of the country. I wanted to feel what it felt like.”

The visit was deeply personal for the comedian.

“I wanted to hold my children again. And I hadn’t been home in over a year,” she said, adding she also needed to confirm it would be safe before bringing her daughter for a planned summer visit with relatives.

O’Donnell has been living in Ireland following years of political hostility and public clashes with Donald Trump, whose allies and media supporters have continued to target her in recent months.

The feud has escalated to the point where Trump publicly labelled her a “threat to humanity”, while conservative figures have mocked her move overseas.

Reflecting on stepping back onto American soil, O’Donnell said the country felt unfamiliar. “So I was in New York for the last two weeks, and I have to tell you, it feels like a very different country, a very different place to me.”

Comparing life abroad to her return home, she said “I’ve been in a place where celebrity worship does not exist. I’ve been in a place where there’s more balance to the news. There’s more balance to life. It’s not everyone trying to get more, more, more. It’s a very different culture.”

Ultimately, she said the emotional atmosphere unsettled her. “I felt the United States in a completely different way than I ever had before I left.”

“I don’t regret leaving at all” she reflected.

“I think I did what I needed to do to save myself, my child and my sanity,” she continued.

“And I’m very happy that I’m not in the midst of it there because the energy that I felt while in the United States was… it was scary. There’s a feeling that something is really wrong and no one is doing anything about it.”

O’Donnell remains a defining queer cultural figure, recently touring her autobiographical stage work Common Knowledge, where she has urged LGBTQIA+ communities to remember their history and “tell your story”.