Actor and comedian Rosie O’Donnell recently spoke with podcaster Kara Swisher about her long-running feud with President Donald Trump and explained how she viewed him long before he entered politics.

O’Donnell said she moved to Ireland shortly before Trump’s inauguration after the 2024 election, citing concerns about Project 2025, possible retaliation from Trump, and the impact on her nonbinary child.

She recalled that she had publicly criticized Trump years earlier while co-hosting The View. In 2006, Trump chose not to fire a Miss USA contestant following reports of underage drinking, drug use, and sexual activity, prompting O’Donnell to criticize his decision. Trump later responded by calling her “a real loser” and “a woman out of control.”

Reflecting on those events, O’Donnell said she simply told what many New Yorkers of her generation already believed about Trump. She argued that he was not self-made, had benefited from his father’s money, and had built an image that did not match reality. She also described him as a “grifter,” a “logo-slapper,” a “used car salesman,” and a “snake oil salesman.”

O’Donnell added that she believes Trump reacted so strongly because she reminded him of people from his own community who challenged him rather than admired him. She suggested that he viewed criticism from someone with a similar New York background differently than criticism from political opponents.

She also expressed concern about Trump’s health, commenting that he appeared physically and cognitively diminished and questioning whether he should be in charge of the country’s nuclear arsenal.

The article notes that O’Donnell has continued to criticize Trump publicly in recent months. It references earlier interviews in which she described him as a “psychopath” and a “conman,” while recalling past business failures, including financial problems involving Trump Shuttle and allegations that he sometimes posed as his own publicist when speaking to the media.