What to Know
People cannot believe how President Donald Trump chose to address the shocking deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner. The acclaimed actor and director and his wife were found dead at their home on Sunday, December 14. When Trump took to social media to react to the news, their deaths were being investigated as an apparent homicide. It was later reported that their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on murder charges.
Instead of offering his condolences or sharing a tribute, Trump used Reiner’s death as an opportunity to criticize him. He suggested that Reiner died because of “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” though authorities have not indicated that politics played any role.
Trump referred to Reiner as “tortured and struggling.”
Though Trump started by saying that what happened to Reiner and his wife was “very sad,” he went on to blame Reiner’s politics for what happened to them. “A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.”
He then continued with, “He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”
Even for Trump, this seemed very low.
How President Trump reacted to the brutal murder of Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner vs How Rob Reiner reacted to the brutal murder of Charlie Kirk. pic.twitter.com/NWka8kaVRA
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 15, 2025
While people are used to Trump’s social media rants, many still did not expect him to criticize Reiner like this. When Trump’s reaction started circulating on social media, some people initially thought it was fake. Many were truly baffled, wondering how Trump could be so cruel and also manage to make this tragedy about himself.
On Reddit, people called Trump’s reaction “absolutely despicable.” One person wrote, “I dunno how he keeps surprising me, but he does. how does anyone read this and not feel anger, embarrassment, disgust?”
Another person added, “what a horribly disgusting thing to say about a man who was violently murdered. i truly do not understand how we’ve lost all standards for presidential etiquette.”
Politicians also criticized Trump’s response.
Rob Reiner was a beloved Californian who always used his platform to make the world better. Donald Trump making light of him and his wife’s murders is a new low for this petty, hateful man. His party needs to condemn this. pic.twitter.com/lU52Ohh7Cd
— Rep. Zoe Lofgren (@RepZoeLofgren) December 15, 2025
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.” Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who is also a Republican, referred to Trump’s message as “inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered.” Massie added, “I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”
