Secretary of State Marco Rubio has allegedly given Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi a blunt response after the couple sought to regain their American citizenship following their decision to leave the country.
The couple reportedly left the United States after Donald Trump won the presidency, with their move to the U.K. becoming a major talking point at the time. After reportedly failing to secure British citizenship, they are now said to be looking back toward America.
But according to the story, Rubio isn’t exactly in a hurry to welcome them back.
“We’ll get around to it maybe someday in 2028,” Rubio said.
The response reportedly left the couple facing an unexpected wait after they had hoped the process could be handled much sooner.
Ellen and Portia had previously expressed their unhappiness with the political direction of the United States and decided to build a new life overseas. Their move attracted widespread attention because of Ellen’s long career in American entertainment and the couple’s high-profile status.
Now, however, the situation has supposedly come full circle.
After attempting to establish themselves permanently in Britain, the couple allegedly decided that returning to their original citizenship might be the easier option. That request, according to the story, did not receive the immediate response they expected.
Rubio reportedly reminded them that leaving America had been their own decision.
“They voluntarily left; now they want us to reverse it,” Rubio said.
The comment has become the centerpiece of the fictional political exchange, portraying Rubio as unwilling to treat the request as a simple administrative change.
“They made their choice when they left,” Rubio allegedly said. “Now they want the government to undo that choice whenever it becomes convenient.”
The citizenship issue would, in reality, involve a much more complicated legal process than simply asking the State Department to restore someone’s status. The U.S. State Department states that a formal renunciation of U.S. nationality is generally irrevocable unless the person successfully challenges the loss of nationality through the appropriate process.
That makes the idea of simply reversing the decision particularly complicated.
The U.K. also has its own requirements for immigration and citizenship, and moving there does not automatically make someone a British citizen.
For Ellen and Portia, the situation has therefore become an unusual international citizenship story.
What began with a decision to leave America after an election has allegedly turned into an effort to find a permanent home elsewhere, followed by an attempt to return to their previous status.
Rubio’s alleged response adds another layer to the story, suggesting that Washington is not prepared to treat the request as an emergency.
“We’ll get around to it,” Rubio said. “But it’s not going to happen just because they changed their minds.”
Ellen and Portia have not publicly commented on the alleged exchange.
For now, their supposed return to American citizenship remains a long way from being settled, with 2028 jokingly becoming the date attached to Rubio’s alleged answer.
