WASHINGTON — In what legal scholars and civil liberties groups are calling a chilling escalation of authoritarian rhetoric, President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested he is “seriously considering” revoking the U.S. citizenship of comedian and longtime political critic Rosie O’Donnell—despite the fact that she was born in the United States.

“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 posted on Truth Social. “She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

O’Donnell, who recently relocated to Ireland after her California home was destroyed in a wildfire, has not been accused of any crime. Her only offense, it seems, is exercising her First Amendment rights in public opposition to the president.

Legal experts say there is no constitutional basis for stripping birthright citizenship from an American-born citizen—let alone for ideological reasons. But Trump’s rhetoric, and his administration’s increasingly aggressive legal posture toward immigrants and naturalized citizens, has alarmed civil rights advocates who warn the president is testing the waters for something more dangerous.

“This isn’t just about Rosie O’Donnell,” said Elie Mystal, legal commentator and author. “It’s about a president who believes he can erase citizenship rights by executive fiat. That is flatly unconstitutional—and terrifying.”

Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has doubled down on his effort to dismantle birthright citizenship, issuing an executive order on Inauguration Day that declared children of undocumented immigrants born in the U.S. would no longer automatically receive citizenship. The order, though quickly challenged in court, was part of a broader Trumpian ideology: citizenship is no longer a right, but a privilege granted—or revoked—at the president’s discretion.

Rosie O’Donnell, a longtime nemesis of Trump dating back to their public feud in the 2000s, has been a frequent target of the president’s online abuse. But threatening to strip her of citizenship, even rhetorically, crosses into dangerous new legal territory, analysts say.

“This is presidential abuse of power at its most petty—and most dangerous,” said Neal Katyal, former Acting Solicitor General. “It weaponizes citizenship against dissenters.”

Behind closed doors, Trump has reportedly made similar comments about other critics, including New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a naturalized citizen and Democratic Socialist who is running for mayor of New York City. “A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally,” Trump said recently. “We’re going to look at everything.”

According to multiple sources inside the administration, Trump has privately told aides that he sees no real distinction between naturalized and native-born citizens when it comes to whom he’d like to target for deportation.

“He just wants it done,” said one former official who was in the room during a recent Oval Office conversation. “He talks about putting them on a plane and dropping them somewhere else. It’s all about punishment.”

The Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi has been quietly ramping up denaturalization efforts, as part of what insiders describe as a “national security” strategy. But critics say the motivations are far more political—aimed squarely at those who challenge or embarrass the president.

Ironically, Trump’s own wife, Melania Trump, is a naturalized U.S. citizen—one who, under his own doctrine, could theoretically be targeted under a future administration.

So far, Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order has been blocked by several federal courts. A New Hampshire judge ruled just this week that the administration could not enforce the order, allowing a class-action suit to proceed.

Still, the president’s legal team has claimed a partial procedural victory after the conservative-majority Supreme Court allowed a narrow challenge to move forward—while avoiding a ruling on the constitutional merits.

But for now, Trump is using the bully pulpit to blur the lines between legal impossibility and authoritarian desire.

In previous presidencies, even suggesting the revocation of an American citizen’s status—without due process or legal cause—would have triggered national outcry. Under Trump, it’s just another Saturday post on Truth Social.

“It would be funny,” said O’Donnell in a brief comment to Irish media, “if it weren’t so terrifying.”

What was once a personal feud has now become a constitutional flashpoint—one that raises profound questions about whether citizenship in Trump’s America is still a right, or just a conditional favor from a man who never learned to take a joke.