Rosie O’Donnell has spoken out about her decision to leave the United States and move to Ireland following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The 62-year-old actor shared a video on TikTok on 11 March to confirm that she has left America and is now living in Dublin. O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her youngest child, Dakota, also known as Clay.
Speaking in a new TikTok video ahead of her appearance on Patrick Kielty's The Late Late Show on Friday the comedian said: “It's not easy to move to another country, and we really felt as a family this was the safest and best thing for us to do.”
“I feel healthier, I'm sleeping better without the stress and anxiety over what was happening politically in the country,” she added.
O’Donnell has a long-running feud with Trump stretching back to 2006 when she was a host on The View.
Touching briefly on her relationship with the current president, she said: “I knew that it would really tax me emotionally to have to do that [live in Trump’s America]. So I'm very happy that we made the decision that we made.”
“I was never someone who thought I would move to another country,” she continued. “You know, I'm happy. Clay is happy. I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. 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 American, that's when we will consider coming back.”
O’Donnell said that it is “heartbreaking to see what's happening politically” in the United States but thanked the people of Ireland for welcoming her. “It's been pretty wonderful, I have to say. The people are so loving and so kind, so welcoming. And I'm very grateful.”
Days before announcing her move, O’Donnell hinted about the big change on Instagram. She posted a photo of herself behind the wheel of a car, indicating in the caption that she wasn’t in the U.S.
“Bought a little used car to tool around the countryside on the wrong side of the road," she wrote in the caption of her post shared last week, as reported by People. "Hit the curb three times – thought I hit a cat !!! #newadventures.”
Her post also included a picture of Dakota in the backseat of the car next to her backpack.
O’Donnell also mentioned in the caption that she was taking her child to school and that she couldn’t wait to “walk to school” with Dakota.
