NEWSRosie O’Donnell’s 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Week Appears to Get Under Donald Trump White House’s Skin
Rosie O’Donnell used her ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ guest-hosting week to repeatedly ridicule Donald Trump.
Aug. 25 2026, Published 9:31 a.m. ET
Rosie O’Donnell’s week behind Jimmy Kimmel’s desk did exactly what Kimmel seemed to expect: it got a reaction from the White House.
O’Donnell, 64, guest-hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! while Kimmel was on his summer break, using her monologues to poke at President Donald Trump, her longtime public nemesis. By the end of the week, the White House was answering back.
The White House responded after Rosie O’Donnell joked about the president and aide Natalie Harp.
“Rosie O’Donnell is a nasty woman and a total slob whose brain has been completely destroyed by Trump Derangement Syndrome,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to multiple media outlets.
The Natalie Harp Line
Rosie O’Donnell referenced Donald Trump throughout her monologues.
On August 19, O’Donnell opened with “a special hello” to viewers in Washington, D.C., then addressed “President Petty Roosevelt.”
“That’s all I’m gonna say about you tonight, sweetheart,” O’Donnell said, before turning to Trump aide Natalie Harp. “You got to realize it’s time to hang up your wig and let Natalie tuck you in.”
Harp, 35, has been at the center of political chatter after Sen. Jon Ossoff recently joked that Trump would rather “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.”
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A Week of Donald Trump Needling
Her Donald Trump jokes continued with references to his appearance, presidency and political record.
O’Donnell did not save her Trump jokes for one night. On August 17, she waved to the camera and referred to him as “Mango Mussolini.” On August 18, she joked that Trump had helped make her “back in the spotlight” and called him “Oompa J. Loompa.”
For her final night, she closed with a parody of “Danny Boy.”
“Drop that Big Mac that we all know you are holding, because my dear, I worry for you so,” she sang. “Poor Donny boy, your polls, your polls are falling, your reflecting pool is green as Mountain Dew.”
She also urged Trump to resign and “make this country great again.”
The Ratings Came, Too
Rosie O’Donnell’s guest-hosting stint drew strong ratings as her feud with Donald Trump returned to late night.
The White House response landed during a strong week for O’Donnell on ABC. LateNighter reported that the Monday, August 17, episode drew 1.87 million total viewers, citing preliminary Nielsen Live+Same Day figures, making it the biggest audience for any Kimmel guest host this summer. Her opening monologue had also passed 2.8 million views on YouTube as of August 21.
While those Nielsen ratings don’t quite measure up to Kimmel’s typical numbers, they may yet get there, as delayed viewing will be added in the following days.
It’s an impressive showing for a comic who by her own admission was only recently made “re-famous” by Trump after leaving the airwaves for several years.
“You brought me back,” she joked on Live!, “just like you did with fascism and the measles.”
