Trump says he’s considering ‘taking away’ Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump says he is considering taking away the U S citizenship of a longtime rival actress and comedian Rosie O Donnell despite a decades-old Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits such an action by the governing body 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 Trump wrote in a social media post on Saturday He added that O Donnell who moved to Ireland in January should stay in Ireland if they want her The two have criticized each other publicly for years an often bitter back-and-forth that predates Trump s involvement in politics In contemporary days O Donnell on social media denounced Trump and up-to-date moves by his administration including the signing of a massive GOP-backed tax breaks and spending cuts plan It s just the latest threat by Trump to revoke the citizenship of people with whom he has publicly disagreed largest part in recent weeks his former adviser and one-time ally Elon Musk But O Donnell s situation is notably different from Musk who was born in South Africa O Donnell was born in the United States and has a constitutional right to U S citizenship The U S State Department notes on its website that U S citizens by birth or naturalization may relinquish U S nationality by taking certain attempts but only if the act is performed voluntary and with the intention of relinquishing U S citizenship Amanda Frost a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law noted the Supreme Court ruled in a situation that the Fourteen Amendment of the Constitution prevents the governing body from taking away citizenship The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born U S citizen Frost disclosed in an email Saturday In short we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the leadership the authorities cannot choose the people O Donnell moved to Ireland after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to win his second term She has declared she s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage Responding to Trump Saturday O Donnell wrote on social media that she had upset the president and add me to the list of people who oppose him at every turn Source