COMEDIAN ROSIE O’DONNELL made a surprise return to US screens as she appeared as a guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live. 

O’Donnell has been living in Dublin since January 2025 – “because of mango Mussolini” – and spoke at length on the programme about her experience.

She and her child Clay uprooted their lives in New York before the second inauguration of US president Donald Trump, a fierce critic of O’Donnell. Their feud dates back to 2006 when she attacked his history on infidelity on the daytime talk show The View.

Since her departure from the US, she has not escaped Trump’s criticism.

In March 2025, he told Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the White House that he was “better off not knowing” O’Donnell. In July 2025, he said he was considering removing the comedian’s citizenship. 

Opening Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night to chants of ‘Rosie’, O’Donnell said, “If you thought the president hated Jimmy Kimmel Live when it was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, buckle up people.”

She said when she first decided to go to Ireland, she told her child not to spread the news to avoid press and publicity. Clay, however, told their class that O’Donnell was leaving the country due to mutual hatred between her and Trump.

Addressing the US president, she waved at the camera. “Hi. I know you’re watching.”

“I decided to go to Ireland, where people are driven to drink regardless of who’s running their country,” she said.

“Everyone thought that the weather was going to be really overwhelming for me, but it really wasn’t, because the people in Ireland are the kindest people I’ve ever met,” she told the live studio audience to applause. 

“They would stop me in the street. They would say to me, ‘welcome, Rosie. You’re home. We love having you here’. 

“I was like, ‘It’s been my refuge and my salvation’, and to the people of Ireland, I send my love. I’ll be home soon.”

As a young comedian, she said she grew frustrated with others in the profession frequently making jokes about Ireland’s drinking habits. “And then I moved there,” she deadpanned. “The Irish people know something about drinking, I can tell you that.”

O’Donnell detailed her interactions with the locals, including crossings with Angela the lollipop lady and a misunderstanding with Joan the pharmacist (in a slightly-flawed Irish accent). 

It was her first foray to hosting a TV show in 30 years, she said – even if just for the night.