What to Know
President Donald Trump is facing scrutiny on social media after reposting attacks on the Kennedy family, just hours after news broke of the death of Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy.
Schlossberg, 35, died on Tuesday, over a month after she publicly disclosed her hard-fought battle with acute myeloid leukemia, according to a post from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, which was signed by her family.
In an essay published by The New Yorker, the environmental journalist and former Bergen Record municipal reporter said she was diagnosed on May 25 of last year, the same day her second child was born. Following months of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, Schlossberg wrote that her doctor told her “he could keep me alive for a year, maybe,” during her latest clinical trial.
“This could not possibly be my life,” Schlossberg wrote in the essay.
Trump did not directly react to the announcement, but took to his Truth Social platform to share posts criticizing the Kennedy family over their objections to the recent addition of his name to the Kennedy Center, the prominent performing arts hub in Washington, D.C.
“The Kennedy Family have LONG neglected the Kennedy Center, btw,” journalist Raheem Kassam wrote on X in a post promoted by Trump. “They don’t raise money for it. They never show up. And the only Kennedy who has been there recently is a member of Trump’s cabinet.”
Another user posted: “The Trumps have always been supporters of the arts. The Kennedys are supporters of the Kennedys.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced earlier this month that the Kennedy Center had been renamed following a vote by its board of trustees. She went on to congratulate the former president, who was assassinated in 1963, saying “this will be a truly great team long into the future!”
The Kennedy family, however, had quite the opposite reaction.
“Microphones were muted and the board meeting and vote NOT unanimous,” Jack Schlossberg, a Kennedy grandson running for the U.S. House, wrote on X.
Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman and grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy, argued that the decision could face legal consequences. Democratic lawmakers have claimed that it is illegal to change the name of the living memorial established by Congress.
Microphones were muted and the board meeting and vote NOT unanimous
— Jack Schlossberg (@JBKSchlossberg) December 18, 2025
I’m told Trump explicitly motivated to act by JACK FOR NEW YORK
Our campaign represents everything Trump can’t stand or defeat.
“It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” he said in a post.
Kerry Kennedy, a lawyer and daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, accused Trump and his administration of “repressing free expression, targeting artists, journalists, and comedians, and erasing the history of Americans whose contributions made our nation better and more just” over the past year.
“Some things leave you speechless, and enraged, and in a state of disbelief,” Maria Shriver, the daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, also posted. “At times such as that, it’s better to be quiet. For how long, I can’t say.”
A number of critics quickly took aim at Trump over his new posts.
“On a day when the Kennedy family is grappling with an unimaginable personal loss, Donald Trump chose to use his platform to launch petty, vindictive attacks against them,” the MeidasTouch Network wrote on X. “Yet another stunning display of cruelty and utter lack of basic human decency.”
Journalist John Harwood said that “our president is mentally ill.”
—
Rachel Cohen
nj.com
(TNS)
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