Rosie O’Donnell turns 64 in Ireland after self-imposed exile, but her battle with Donald Trump continues

Rosie O’Donnell turns 64 today, 21 March 2026, and will be celebrating her birthday in Ireland. The comedian went into self-imposed exile to the Emerald Isle last year shortly before Donald Trump, with whom she has a long-running feud that began in 2006, was inaugurated for a second time, this time as the 47^th U.S. president.

Explaining why she fled the United States, O’Donnell said that “it has been heartbreaking to see what is happening over there politically and hard for me personally as well.” The former co-host of ‘The View’, who identifies as a lesbian, explained to Us Weekly that she needed to move abroad “for the safety and sanity” of herself as well as her non-binary child.

The two-decade-long feud that sent Rosie O’Donnell into exile

The verbal fisticuffs between O’Donnell and Trump began in 2006 when she mocked him while hosting The View calling him “the moral authority” when he allowed the Miss USA pageant winner, a competition which was part of his business empire, to retain her crown despite being embroiled in a substance abuse scandal. She then rattled off a list of his infidelities and business difficulties.

She got herself into hot water by saying that Trump had personally declared bankruptcy, when it was actually his businesses, which necessitated that the show’s creator Barabara Walter make an on-air clarification. It also led to O’Donnell losing her spot on The View.

Since then, the feud has flared up from time to time, and the comedian has been one of Trump’s go-to distractions from the time he first campaigned for the presidency to rile up his base. He even vocally pondered striping her of her U.S. citizenship last year, something he doesn’t have the power to do under the U.S. Constitution.

Unlike others with whom Trump has felt wronged him, he has made no attempt at reconciliation and to bury the hatch O’Donnell, nor has she by a country mile. O’Donnell has been outspoken, among other things, about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, even calling Trump “a serial pedophile rapist” on The Jim Acosta Show podcast.

And that is something that has kept her in the news cycle besides Trump taking potshots at O’Donnell when he deems it necessary. As of publication, we have yet to see a “happy birthday” from Trump to Rosie, but with the events unfolding as they are, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were to take the opportunity to use the ongoing feud as a distraction.

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