Trump calls Rob Reiner ‘tortured’ in statement on director’s death

U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a statement following the death of acclaimed filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, framing the director’s passing in terms of his long-standing criticism of the Trump presidency.

Reiner, 78, and his wife, 68, were found dead from apparent stab wounds inside their Los Angeles home on Sunday afternoon. In an update from investigators on Monday, police had taken Rob’s son, Nick Reiner, in custody as part of the ongoing double homicide case.

Reiner, best known for directing “Stand By Me,” “Misery,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “A Few Good Men,” was a vocal critic of Trump throughout his political career. In interviews and public commentary, Reiner frequently warned that Trump’s return to the White House in the 2024 election could push the United States away from democracy and toward “autocracy.”

On Monday, Trump released a message on his social media platform, calling Reiner “a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star.” He went on to describe Reiner’s outspoken opposition as an “incurable affliction” with what he termed “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” adding that Reiner’s “raging obsession” with the presidency had “driven people crazy.”

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump… May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”

The statement has already drawn sharp reactions online, with critics accusing Trump of politicizing the deaths of Reiner and his wife.

Reiner’s career spanned decades, beginning with his role as “Meathead” on the classic sitcom “All in the Family,” before he transitioned into directing some of the most beloved films of the 1980s and 1990s.

The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner had been married to photographer Michele Singer Reiner since 1989.