President Donald Trump has begun openly suggesting that he has the power to revoke the citizenship of natural-born Americans, a claim that defies constitutional law but aligns with his broader pattern of authoritarian posturing.
While legal experts agree the 14th Amendment makes such actions impossible, Trump’s threats mark a dangerous shift: using the language of exclusion and punishment not just against immigrants, but against political opponents and dissenting citizens born on American soil.
Targeting American-born Rosie O’Donnell is not the first time Trump has suggested he could go after American citizens.
In public remarks, Trump has floated the idea of deporting American citizens convicted of crimes, stating, “Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too, if you want to know the truth. So maybe that will be the next job.”
He went on to acknowledge uncertainty about the legality of such actions, adding, “I don’t know if we do or not, we’re looking at that right now”.
Trump has repeatedly singled out celebrities, journalists, and political opponents, sometimes suggesting punitive measures for their dissent.
O’Donnell was his most recent target as Trump posted “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” on Truth Social.
The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States.
O’Donnell lived in the United States from 1962, when she was born in New York, until Jan. 2025 when she moved to Ireland. O’Donnell said the outcome of the 2024 presidential race was a factor in her decision to move. She said she would only consider moving back to the United States “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights.” Reportedly, she is pursuing Irish citizenship based on her family heritage.
O’Donnell and Trump have gone back and forth for decades. Recently, O’Donnell criticized Trump’s handling of the deadly Texas flash floods that killed at least 120 people. At least 160 people are still unaccounted for.
In a TikTok video, O’Donnell blamed Trump for the disaster, stating: “When the president guts all of the early warning systems and the weather forecasting abilities of the government, these are the results.”
Nearly half of the National Weather Service’s 122 field offices are operating with staffing levels at least 20% below normal, with several offices no longer maintaining 24-hour coverage. Some offices have reduced routine weather balloon launches (critical for atmospheric data collection) due to personnel shortages.
The cuts have already resulted in the departure of approximately 800 NOAA employees since February 28, representing about 10% of the agency’s workforce through mass firings and voluntary retirements.
The administration’s proposed 2026 budget for NOAA would slash the agency’s funding by more than 25% overall from its current level of roughly $6 billion. The budget completely eliminates NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), cutting research funding by close to 75% and ending all federal support for climate and weather research programs. If the full budget proposal is approved by Congress, NOAA would lose an additional 2,000 of its 12,000 full-time employees, an 18% reduction in total staffing.
To O’Donnell’s Tik Tok video, Trump threated to remove her citizenship via Truth Social.
Currently, the President does not have the authority to revoke citizenship of an American-born citizen. The Supreme Court, in Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), explicitly ruled that neither Congress nor the president can strip citizenship from a natural-born citizen unless that individual voluntarily gives it up (for example, by formally renouncing it).
In response to Trump’s threat, O’Donnell posted, “the president of the usa has always hated the fact that i see him for who he is – a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself – this is why i moved to ireland – he is a dangerous old soulless man with dementia who lacks empathy compassion and basic humanity- i stand in direct opposition all he represents- so do millions of others – u gonna deport all who stand against ur evil tendencies – ur a bad joke who cant form a coherent sentence.”
O’Donnell added “hey donald – you’re rattled again? 18 years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours. you call me a threat to humanity – but I’m everything you fear: a loud woman a queer woman a mother who tells the truth an american who got out of the country b4 u set it ablaze you build walls – I build a life for my autistic kid in a country where decency still exists you crave loyalty – I teach my children to question power you sell fear on golf courses – I make art about surviving trauma you lie, you steal, you degrade – I nurture, I create, I persist
you are everything that is wrong with america – and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it you want to revoke my citizenship? go ahead and try, king joffrey with a tangerine spray tan i’m not yours to silence i never was 🇮🇪 rosie”
O’Donnell included several photos of Trump with Jeffery Epstein, who had multiple charges related to sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking with minors before he died in prison.
After campaigning on a pledge to release the full Epstein files and asserting that Attorney General Pam Bondi had the documents on her desk, the Trump administration has now formally stated there is no secret client list connected to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
During a cabinet meeting on July 8, Trump was asked about the Epstein files. He said, “You’re asking – we have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable. I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, where we’re having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration.”
While talking about the tragedy in Texas during the same meeting, Trump drew attention to the cosmetic changes in the cabinet meeting room.
“See the medallions on top. They had a chain going into the ceiling and I said you can’t do that, you have to have a medallion. They said what’s a medallion, I said, I’ll show you and we got some beautiful medallions, and you see them. They were put up there, makes the lamps look better. So, we did these changes.
“And you know, when you think of it, the cost was almost nothing. We also painted the room a nice color, beige color, and it’s been really something. The only question is will I gold leaf the corners. You could maybe tell me, my cabinet could take a vote. You see the top line moldings. And the only question is do you gold leaf it because you can’t paint it. If you paint it, it won’t look good because they’ve never found a paint that looks like gold.”
Trump spent the weekend defending the Attorney General and FBI’s findings. He downplayed the significance of the Epstein case, stating that “nobody cares about” Epstein and that further time and resources should not be wasted on the issue. He told his followers to “not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein” and to focus on other priorities.
On Truth Social, Trump said, “Could you all just FOCUS on the very many other more important things to discuss than whether or not I may or MAY NOT be all over the Epstein Files? There was a BIG FLOOD in Texas. Huge flood as it relates to water. Many people DIED. Many beautiful young girls. Perhaps some not so beautiful illegal Mexican peoples as well. Perhaps drug dealers disguised as day laborers. You can never tell. They don’t speak American. That is very suspicious. Again, forget about me and the Epstein Files. Focus on MEXICANS and FLOODING.”
The patterns in Trump’s current rhetoric about revoking citizenship from naturalized Americans bear a resemblance to Adolf Hitler’s early authoritarian tactics as he consolidated power in Nazi Germany.
When Hitler rose to power in 1933, his first targets were political opponents rather than Jews or other groups that would later become the primary victims of Nazi persecution. The Nazi regime immediately began using legal mechanisms to silence dissent and eliminate opposition through what appeared to be lawful processes.
Within months of taking power, Hitler’s government passed the Malicious Practices Act on March 21, 1933, which made it a crime to speak out against the government or criticize its leaders. Even “gossiping” or “making fun” of government officials could result in arrest and imprisonment in concentration camps. This was followed by the Enabling Act on March 24, 1933, which gave the chancellor power to punish anyone considered an “enemy of the state.”
The Nazi regime’s approach was methodical and bureaucratic, using existing legal structures to create new categories of exclusion. The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service passed on April 7, 1933, excluded “non-Aryans” from the legal profession, civil service, and teaching positions. This established the precedent of using citizenship and racial categories as tools of political control.
More significantly, the Law on Denaturalization and Revocation of Citizenship passed on July 14, 1933, allowed authorities to revoke naturalizations that were deemed “undesirable” or to denaturalize persons whose conduct “violated the duty of loyalty toward Germany”. The law specifically targeted Eastern European Jews who had gained German citizenship after World War I, but its broadly worded provisions gave officials “unbridled discretion” to strip citizenship through administrative decisions.
The Trump administration has explicitly announced plans to pursue “maximal enforcement” of denaturalization proceedings, with the Department of Justice issuing a June 2025 memo directing attorneys to prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law.
Like Hitler’s regime, Trump has systematically expanded the definition of who constitutes a threat to the state. The administration has weaponized immigration status to silence critics, targeting international students who protested Israel’s actions in Gaza and threatening to revoke green cards from activists. Trump has also suggested that U.S. citizens who criticize administration policies could be charged with crimes based on claims they’re “aiding terrorists.”
