Rosie O’Donnell insisted she has ‘no regrets’ after fleeing the United States for Ireland to escape Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
The liberal comedian and actress told CNN that she blames ‘Project 2025’ for making her and her non-binary child Clay feel unsafe in the US, but said that she is happy with her new life in Ireland.
‘I have no regrets. Not a day has gone by that I thought it was the wrong decision,’ she said. ‘I was welcomed with open arms.
‘I knew that after reading Project 2025 that if Trump got in it was time for me and my non-binary child to leave the country.’
O’Donnell noted that she was not among the A-listers like Ellen DeGeneres and America Ferrera who publicly threatened to leave the US before the election, and said she ‘made the decision with my family and my therapist.’
‘When (Trump) won, we made the plan into action and we were gone before he was inaugurated.’
The comedian has been an outspoken critic of Trump for years, and said she has been ‘heartbroken’ to see what actions Trump has taken in his first months back in office.
O’Donnell said while she is happy with her move across the Atlantic, she has struggled to watch from afar how Trump has rapidly reshaped the United States in only a few months.
‘It’s been heartbreaking,’ she said.
‘I knew that if I was in the United States and watched him destroy the country and the constitution, and really pay no mind to the laws that the Founders stood by and that our country stands for as a beacon of shining light and freedom for the rest of the world.
‘That should he do what the Heritage Foundation said he was going to do, in that Project 2025, that we were going to be in big trouble.
‘It’s as bad as they promised, and even a little bit worse, it’s been heartbreaking and very, very sad to watch.’
The comedian first announced her move to Ireland in March as she shared a nine-minute video speaking out against President Trump and his policies.
The 62-year-old began the clip saying she buckled under the pressure and couldn’t face living in the US under Trump, so she packed her bags and moved on January 15 – just days before the inauguration.
O’Donnell told her 2.5 million followers that she’s having a ‘wonderful’ time living in Ireland – but admitted that she is already missing things about the US.
She said: ‘It’s been pretty wonderful, I have to say. The people are so loving and so kind, so welcoming. And I’m very grateful.’
She noted that leaving the States was something she never expected to happen in her life, adding: ‘I was never someone who thought I would move to another country, that’s what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child. And here we are.’
She added that although she and Clay are both happy, she misses her ‘other kids and friends.’
‘I miss many things about life there at home and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country.’