Rosie O'Donnell fled to Ireland the moment Trump won the White House again.
Now she's firing off interviews to American magazines about what Americans should be outraged about.
And this time, her target is Trump picking up a phone to fight for an American athlete.
A 20-Year Grudge Looking for New Material
Rosie O'Donnell has been fighting with Donald Trump since 2006.
That's twenty years of hunting for reasons to be horrified.
She told Trump he'd never be president – he became president.
She said his policies were sickening – 77 million Americans disagreed.
She moved to Dublin to escape him – and now gives interviews to Variety magazine about American sports.
Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to review a red card that was widely criticized as a bad call.
Balogun stepped into a player. Two athletes collided. The referee hit the slow-motion button and sent America's top scorer packing.
Even Lionel Messi committed an identical challenge in this same World Cup and walked away clean.
Trump looked at that and said it wasn't right – and he said so out loud.
O'Donnell told Variety that was "sickening."
What Trump Actually Did
Trump called Infantino. He asked for a review. He did not threaten. He did not demand. He did not sign an executive order about soccer.
He said exactly this: "All I did was, I asked for a review, because I didn't think it was a foul."
He added that he didn't even know what a red card was when this started.
That's the thing that has Rosie O'Donnell horrified – a president who learned the rules of soccer and then stood up for an American kid being cheated out of his moment.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton put it plainly: "I'm glad President Trump urged FIFA to do the right thing. Good for President Trump, good for Folarin Balogun, good for the USA."
Fox Sports analyst and former USMNT player Alexi Lalas said it the same way: "What happened here is America stood up for itself."
The Woman Screaming About Rules Lives in Ireland
O'Donnell's question for Trump in Variety was this: "Since when does he get to make and change the rules?"
Rosie O'Donnell does not live here.
She packed her bags in early 2025 and moved to Dublin because she couldn't handle a second Trump term.
She then condemned the American coach for not refusing to play Balogun once FIFA cleared him.
She condemned Balogun himself for taking the field.
Let that land for a second.
A woman who announced she was horrified by America and left is now telling a Brooklyn-born American athlete he should have benched himself to make a political point.
https://twitter.com/wakeupusa/status/2074645136575967305?s=20
Trump fought for that kid.
O'Donnell wanted to sacrifice him.
This Is What They Always Do
When Trump fights for Americans, the Left calls it corruption.
When Trump doesn't fight for Americans, the left calls it negligence.
There is no version of Donald Trump that Rosie O'Donnell would not describe as "sickening."
She said it in 2006 when he gave a pageant contestant a second chance.
She said it in 2016 when he won the election she said he'd never win.
She said it in 2025 when she moved to another country to get away from him.
And she said it this week when he picked up a phone and argued that an unfair call against an American player deserved a second look.
The thing that actually horrified O'Donnell isn't the phone call – it's that Trump keeps winning, keeps fighting, and keeps making her look wrong.
The USMNT lost to Belgium 4-1 and America's World Cup run is over.
But Trump's approval ratings don't run on soccer scores.
He fought for an American, got the ban reversed, and the player took the field.
Rosie O'Donnell, watching from Dublin, found that sickening.
Most of America found it refreshing.
Sources:
- Ryan Canfield, "Rosie O'Donnell fumes over Trump's involvement with FIFA after US star's red card," OutKick, July 8, 2026.
- "A brief history of the ongoing Donald Trump vs. Rosie O'Donnell feud," Fox News, January 4, 2017.
- Donald Trump, Truth Social post, July 6, 2026.
- Tom Cotton, post on X, July 6, 2026.
