One of President Donald Trump’s most recent and worrisome threats is when he suggests taking away the citizenship of people he opposes.
This has been one of Trump’s most repeated public warnings against political enemies. Former ally Elon Musk and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who are both naturalized U.S. citizens, have been the object of this suggestion. And the latest target is his longtime foe Rosie O’Donnell.
Earlier this month, Trump posted (again) that he is “giving serious thought to taking away Rosie O’Donnell’s Citizenship. She is not a Great American.” His statement was then reposted by the White House’s official account.
Under his administration, Trump has made revoking someone’s citizenship, or denaturalization, a regular threat. Historically, denaturalization has been used narrowly, such as to take away citizenship from suspected communists during the McCarthy era of the late 1940s and 1950s and from people who lied about being Nazis.
Until now.
