Comedian and activist Rosie O’Donnell has voiced serious doubts about the upcoming midterm elections, suggesting that President Donald Trump has no plans to allow them to proceed as scheduled. In a recent conversation, she expressed her belief that the administration might orchestrate a major disruption to halt the democratic process entirely.
During a discussion on Wednesday, June 17, with author Marianne Williamson, O’Donnell shared her apprehensions. Both women raised alarms over the possibility that the elections could be manipulated in favor of those in power. Their exchange highlighted a shared worry about the integrity of the upcoming vote.
The longstanding tension between O’Donnell and Trump stretches back more than two decades. Their public clashes began in 2006 when she questioned his business dealings and financial setbacks while appearing as a cohost on The View. Trump responded sharply during an appearance on The Insider.
“Probably I’ll sue her because it would be fun. I’d like to take some money out of her fat-a** pockets,” Trump said at the time, though no legal action ever materialized from those remarks.
This prolonged rivalry reportedly influenced O’Donnell’s decision to relocate abroad. In January 2025, she moved to Ireland, pointing to Trump’s return to the presidency as a key factor in her choice to leave the United States.
In her talk with Williamson, O’Donnell went beyond concerns about election interference.
“Not only a rigging, but I think he will have some sort of crisis, whether it’s an assassination attempt or a terrorist bombing,” she said. “There will be some catastrophic event and he will say there will be no elections. That is what I think is going to happen. Because if you read Project 2025, you would have not believed that they wrote down exactly what they’ve done to our country — and America didn’t notice.”
She urged people not to dismiss the lengths to which the current leadership might go.
“If you don’t think that they would take away our right to vote when they’ve already done the Voters Rights Act, when they’ve already set up concentration camps, we are past the precipice, America,” she said. “And everyone needs to believe still, believe — hope is the last thing to die, people.”
Even amid these grave warnings, O’Donnell voiced encouragement regarding recent developments within the Democratic Party. She highlighted growing energy among Democrats while pushing back against excuses for inaction.
“We have to believe. I am very thrilled for how the Democrats now seem to be doing — but if I read one more text from a senator saying what he did and not doing anything about it — ‘Well, they can’t, Rosie, because they’re the minority.’ You know what? There were many minority groups that stood their ground and saved our nation before,” she said.
When reflecting on her relocation to Ireland, O’Donnell described it as a necessary step for her well-being.
“That was my choice in order to keep my family and my sanity safe, in order to not have the constant abuse from him infiltrate my day with my children out at CVS,” she said. “I don’t want to have the stress and anxiety associated with the constant barrage of him. It sounds like a PTSD response from me, to tell you the God’s honest truth. It’s 20 years!”
Trump offered his own pointed response to news of her departure. While meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin, he was asked if O’Donnell could affect the country’s happiness levels.
“I like that question,” Trump said before inquiring whether Martin knew her. “You’re better off not knowing,” the president then quipped.
These exchanges underscore the deep divisions that continue to shape American political discourse, with figures like O’Donnell using their platforms to sound alarms about potential threats to democratic norms. Her comments reflect broader anxieties circulating in certain circles, even as supporters of the administration push back against such predictions.
The conversation with Williamson serves as a reminder of how personal histories and political fears often intersect in today’s polarized environment.
