Iconic Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner, 78 – known for films like When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, Princess Bride and Rumour Has it among many others – was found murdered along with his wife Michelle Reiner, 68 in their Brentwood, California home on Sunday, December 14 2025. The Reiner’s are believed to have been murdered by their son Nick, 32, who was arrested on charges of homicide by the LAPD and is currently in custody according to CNN.
Rob and Michelle Reiner leave behind their 4 children, daughters Tracy and Romy and Sons Jake and Nick. Reiner’s legacy encompasses both his incredible filmography which places him among the finest directors in Hollywood history and his active participation in political activism. A life-long Democrat, he was one of the most vocal celebrity critics of US President Donald Trump, calling him “mentally unfit” and “unqualified” to serve in office.
Now, The US President, under the guise of offering condolences, has hit back at the late director and claimed that the director’s death was caused due to the “anger he caused others” and that he had been afflicted by “Trump Derangement Syndrome”.
Trump’s insensitive comments about the Reiner’s murder
The US President took to his social media platform Truth Social on December 15 to comment on the horrific tragedy but a quick perusal showed that Trump was disparaging the late director and essentially blamed him for his own death. He said:
“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. 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 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!”
He stated that Reiner was obsessed with him and that his paranoia had “reached new heights” due to the Trump government’s alleged success in heralding a “Golden Age of America”. After initial uproar on social media by people on both sides of the political spectrum, the President refused to apologize and instead doubled down about what he said.
In a Q&A with reporters, Trump, attacking Reiner, said, “Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned. He said he liked, he knew it was false. In fact, it’s the exact opposite that I was, a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia. You know, the Russia hoax. He was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself career wise. He became like a deranged person. Trump Derangement Syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all in any way, shape, or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.”
The outrage on social media
The internet was in an uproar over The President’s insensitive comments with many calling them “petty” and “vile”. Celebrities and lawmakers in particular, took to their social handles to call out Trump’s “disgusting” behaviour.
US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of the Republican party, a former Trump ally turned critic, wrote on X, “Rob Reiner and his wife were tragically killed at the hands of their own son, who reportedly had drug addiction and other issues, and their remaining children are left in serious mourning and heartbreak.
This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.
Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”
Thomas Massie, another member of the Republican party who is a massive Trump critic, posted a screenshot of Trump’s remarks and said, “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. 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.”
Celebrities like Patrick Schwarzenegger, Whoopi Goldberg, journalist Mehdi Hasan, Josh Gad, musician Jack White and others condemned Trump’s comments as well as Democratic lawmakers like California governor Gavin Newsom, US senator Chris Murphy, US House member Zoe Lofgren. Newsom called the US President a “sick man” while Lofgren remarked that this was “a new low for this petty, hateful man.”
Trump’s snarky comments about this incredibly tragic and horrific crime have drawn widespread condemnation for prioritising personal vendettas over compassion, leaving many to question how empathy can be so easily eclipsed by political bitterness in moments of profound human loss.