Rosie O’Donnell sends message to Trump while hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live”: ‘Hi, I know you’re watching’

Raechal ShewfeltTue, August 18, 2026 at 5:14 AM UTC

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Rosie O’Donnell and President Donald TrumpCredit: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty; Samuel Corum/GettyKey Points -

Rosie O’Donnell hosted the first of a week of episodes Monday on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

She made several mentions of President Donald Trump, whom she’s feuded with for decades.

O’Donnell spent much of the monologue focused on her new life in Ireland, although there were Trump references.

Rosie O’Donnell was certain that President Donald Trump would see her monologue Monday as she kicked off a week of guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Overall, the League of Their Own star spent little time talking about her longtime rival, but she did mention him a few times, including once when she called him a “mango Mussolini” and another time when she stopped what she was saying to look directly into the camera and note, “Hi! I know you’re watching.”

The personal greeting followed an anecdote that she shared about her child, Clay, going to school and explaining that she moved there, “because the president of the United States hates my mother, but, in all fairness, I believe my mother hates him more.”

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O’Donnell used most of her time to describe her adventures in Ireland, where she moved ahead of Trump’s second inauguration, stating that she didn’t feel safe in the United States.

The people of Ireland are “the kindest” she’s ever met, she said, before promising to “be home soon.”

At the end, she speculated that Trump was “in the White House crying, because I haven’t mentioned him.”

O’Donnell did make several nods to her daytime talker, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, which aired from 1996 to 2002.

Back then, she had joked, “They called me the Queen of Nice,” and put up an issue of Newsweek magazine with her on the cover.

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She deadpanned, “I haven’t sat behind a desk on TV in almost 30 years, and a lot has changed since the ‘90s. Well, back then, there was a war in the Middle East, climate change was ravaging out planet, and we had a president who was embroiled in scandals. but today, everything is so chill.”

She even called Guillermo Rodriguez, Kimmel’s sidekick, a “cutie patootie” and the show included a Koosh ball reference.

She promised more drama with Trump, as she’s scheduled to host Kimmel’s show all week: “If you thought the president hated Jimmy Kimmel Live when it was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, buckle up!”

It was expected that O’Donnell would mention Trump in her monologue, as he’s feuded with her for decades. (He’s also not fond of Kimmel.) Their swipes at one another have escalated so much that the sitting president has threatened to take away O’Donnell’s citizenship.

However, her appearances don’t mean that she will return to the small screen permanently.

In July, she posted a media inquiry into whether she planned to go into late-night TV following her stint on Kimmel’s show. She responded with a solid no.

“I leave for Ireland the day I’m done guest hosting for Jimmy — where my child starts the 8th grade,” O’Donnell wrote. “I’m not interested in doing late night — daytime however would be interesting.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live airs weekdays at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

on Entertainment Weekly

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