President Donald Trump launched an explosive Truth Social rant on Wednesday morning, February 25, 2026, attacking actor Robert De Niro along with Democratic Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, suggesting all three should be deported after the trio delivered separate rebuttal speeches on Tuesday night challenging his State of the Union address.
The 82-year-old Oscar-winning actor led a counter-program titled “State of the Swamp” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening—speaking as Trump delivered his address to Congress just over a mile away at the U.S. Capitol. De Niro gave an impassioned plea urging Americans to stand up against the administration.
The president quickly responded. In his Wednesday morning post, Trump claimed De Niro and the two lawmakers should “actually get on a boat” together and leave the U.S.
“They should actually get on a boat with Trump Deranged Robert De Niro, another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ, who has absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying—some of which is seriously CRIMINAL!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The president derided De Niro’s emotional address, contrasting him unfavorably with longtime Trump critic Rosie O’Donnell, who relocated to Ireland in January 2025 to avoid the environment created by Trump’s second term. O’Donnell recently disclosed to SiriusXM’s Chris Cuomo that she made a quiet return trip to the U.S. to see family but described the experience as “scary.”
Trump also lashed out at Omar and Tlaib, who interrupted his State of the Union speech Tuesday evening by shouting “You have killed Americans” after he spoke about Minnesota’s Somali community. The interruption referred to two U.S. citizens shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January—Renée Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24.
The president described the two progressive representatives as having “the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people” and implied they should be “sent back from where they came—as fast as possible.” Omar is a naturalized Somali-born American, while Tlaib was born in Detroit, Michigan—making his deportation remarks legally implausible.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung escalated the rhetoric in a statement to USA TODAY, calling De Niro a “washed-up has-been who hasn’t been relevant in 30 years” and urging him to seek “immediate treatment for a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain.”
The “State of the Swamp” event was organized by Defiance.org. Other participants included “Avengers” actor Mark Ruffalo, who joined via video, and former CNN journalist Jim Acosta. De Niro also appeared on “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace” podcast on February 23, describing Trump as “the enemy of this country” and predicting he would resist leaving office once his term ends.
Tensions spread beyond celebrity circles. Marcelo Gomes da Silva, a 19-year-old guest at the State of the Union from Milford, Massachusetts, exited the event early after the Department of Homeland Security publicly targeted him on social media, labeling him “an illegal alien who has no right to be in our nation.” Gomes da Silva legally entered the U.S. from Brazil at age six with his parents, though his visa later expired. ICE detained him in May while he was driving to volleyball practice, holding him for six days in Burlington before releasing him.
Meanwhile, reports revealed that a White House staffer named Garrett Wade is likely operating the “Johnny MAGA” X account, which has nearly 300,000 followers and routinely pushes administration messaging without acknowledging its government ties. According to WIRED, Wade works as a rapid response manager for the Trump administration. The account has shared aggressive posts about the Minneapolis shootings and other contentious subjects, prompting serious concerns about transparency and ethics.
De Niro, who was born in the United States and has long criticized Trump, told the National Press Club on Tuesday that he feels “betrayed by my country” under the current administration. His call for peaceful resistance and renewed democratic engagement sparked a 24-hour media frenzy that expanded far beyond the State of the Union itself.
