Trump doubles down on Rob Reiner criticism after killing; director's son in custody
Rob Reiner discusses "Spinal Tap" at 92NY in New York City, Sept. 15, 2025.
John Lamparski | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
President Donald Trump slammed Rob Reiner on Monday morning, a day after the famed Hollywood director and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found brutally slain in their Los Angeles home.
Trump's social-media screed against Reiner, who was a staunch critic of the president, came as the Reiners' 32-year-old son Nick was arrested and held on $4 million bond, according to LA County Sheriff's Department jail records. Nick Reiner was booked on suspicion of murder.
Trump suggested that the couple was killed because of "the anger" Rob Reiner caused in other people due to his opposition to the Republican president.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case, and the police have not provided any motive.
Trump, during comments to reporters later, doubled down and expanded on his criticism of Reiner, even after a number of Republicans said that he was wrong to do so.
"He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned," Trump said.
The president accused Reiner of promoting "the Russian hoax," saying "that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia."
"He was one of the people behind it," Trump said. "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."
Read more CNBC politics coverageEarlier Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "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.
"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," the president wrote.
"May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"
(L-R) Director Rob Reiner and his son Nick Reiner attend AOL Build Presents: "Being Charlie" at AOL Studios in New York, May 4, 2016.
Rommel Demano | Getty Images
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a social media post, said of Trump's comments: "He knows no shame. A total jackass."
Trump's former lawyer, Jenna Ellis, in a social media post, wrote of Trump's comments: "A man and his wife were murdered last night. This is NOT the appropriate response."
"The Right uniformly condemned political and celebratory responses to Charlie Kirk's death," Ellis wrote. "This is a horrible example from Trump (and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life) and should be condemned by everyone with any decency."
Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, told CNN, "I'd expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the president of the United States. Can the president be presidential?"
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, also called out Trump for his post.
"Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered," Massie wrote on X.
"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," he added.
Massie has been targeted by Trump for months after co-sponsoring a petition in the House that led to passage of a law directing the Justice Department to release its investigative files about notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump, who was previously friends with Epstein, had opposed that law until the last minute.
U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to depart for the Army/Navy football game in Baltimore, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec. 13, 2025.
Aaron Schwartz | Reuters
Another House Republican who has fallen out with Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, in a post replying to the president on X, said, "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," Greene wrote. "It's incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder."
Greene last month said she will resign her seat effective Jan. 5 because of her falling-out with Trump.
Reiner blasted Trump in an MS Now interview in October.
"Make no mistake; we have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy, and democracy completely leaves us," Reiner said in that interview.
"And we're looking at the election in 2026, and Donald Trump knows that in a free and fair election, he will lose," Reiner said. "He will lose the House, the House will flip and will become in Democratic hands. There will be committee chairs who will be able to hold meetings, and this is the last thing he wants."
Reiner's movies included "This is Spinal Tap," "The Princess Bride," "When Harry Met Sally," and "A Few Good Men."
He first gained fame playing the son-in-law of Archie Bunker on the classic television show "All in the Family."