Rosie O’Donnell says Oval Office question to Martin ‘surreal’

Actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell has said it was “very, very surreal” to hear Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin asked a question about her while meeting President Donald Trump in the White House.

Mr Martin was in the Oval office for annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations hosted by the US President when a reporter questioned him about O’Donnell’s move from America to Ireland.

“Why in the world would you let Rosie O’Donnell move to Ireland? I think she’s going to lower your happiness levels,” the reporter enquired.

Micheál Martin laughed nervously as President Trump told the reporter: “Thank you, I like that question.”

Speaking on The Late, Late Show on RTÉ on Friday night, O’Donnell claimed Trump had held animus towards her since an appearance she had on the American chat show The View in which she criticised his character and business acumen.

She said that since then Trump “uses me as a punchline whenever he feels the need”.

“He’s been doing it for two decades and I’m still not used to it every time he does,” she said.

“But I felt very troubled that they put the taoiseach in that position and didn’t treat him with the respect that a leader of that kind deserves when he’s visiting the White House.

“I wrote the taoiseach with a little note apology to his email and got a note back that they had received it and thanked me.

“But I just wanted him to know the history and what happened and why he seems to be out to get me in ways that are startling to most.”

She also said the appearance of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor in the Oval Office this week was “very depressing”.

O’Donnell, who has Irish grandparents, said she moved to Ireland in mid-January.

She said while she had stayed in America during the first Trump presidency she found his second term “terrifying” as he now has “the Supreme Court giving him ultimate power”.

O’Donnell said she had a plan with her therapist that if Trump was elected president “which none of us though was happening” the plan was “only [to move to] Ireland”.

“It’s really felt like home since I’ve been here,” she added