Trump doubles down on Rob Reiner statement, mocking dead director again
Asked by a reporter if he stands by his statement on Rob Reiner’s death after a number of Republicans have denounced it, Trump doesn’t offer any sympathy, doubles down on his dislike for Reiner AND refers to himself in the third person.
Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all, he was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.
He knew it was false, in fact it was the exact opposite, but he said that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia, 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.
Updated at 16.17 EST
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Sara Braun
Gavin Newsom, the California governor, announced the appointment of two prominent scientists who left the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in recent months over conflicts with the Trump administration to state positions.
Dr Susan Monarez, the former director of the CDC, will lead California’s new public health initiative, the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange (PHNIX).
Dr Debra Houry, left, and Dr Susan Monarez arrive for a Senate hearing in Washington DC on 17 September 2025. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
In August, Monarez was fired by the Trump administration less than a month into the top job at the CDC after refusing to step down. Monarez had clashed with Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. on vaccine policy.
Newsom also hired former CDC chief medical officer Dr Debra Houry, who resigned after a decade at the agency after Monarez’s dismissal.
Both Monarez and Houry testified before Congress in September to voice their concerns about secretary Kennedy’s vaccine agenda and the sweeping changes he was making to the country’s public health system.
Read the full story:
ShareMore politicians condemn Trump as he doubles down on attack of deceased director Rob Reiner
“Vile”. “Nonsense”. “Dreadful”. These are just some of the words prominent lawmakers and public figures are using as more reactions pile in after Donald Trump’s controversial social media post about the death of director and actor Rob Reiner.
New York governor Kathy Hochul said that Reiner’s loved ones “deserve our condolences, not this insulting filth from Donald Trump.”
Maryland representative Jamie Raskin called Trump’s post “a product of Deranged Trump Syndrome” that “teaches nothing but cruelty and nonsense.” The comment comes after the president suggested Reiner’s death was due to “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME”.
Presenter and former newspaper editor, Piers Morgan, called the remarks on Truth Social a “dreadful thing to say about a man who just got murdered by his troubled son.”
“Delete it, Mr President @realDonaldTrump,” Morgan posted on X.
Meanwhile, Washington representative Pramila Jayapal, posted on social media: “What a vile and self-obsessed post. The American people deserve so much better.”
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie also reacted to Trump’s attack, calling it “completely shocking and not the least bit surprising at the very same time.”
Updated at 16.50 EST
Trump’s post on Rob Reiner sparks outrage from lawmakers and celebrities
Maya Yang
Celebrities and lawmakers from both of the US’s major political parties are condemning Donald Trump after the president blamed the death of Rob Reiner on what he described as the acclaimed Hollywood director’s dislike of him.
“What a disgusting and vile statement,” actor Patrick Schwarzenegger wrote on X.
Similarly, television host Whoopi Goldberg, who described Reiner as her friend and “quite an amazing man,” condemned Trump.
Referencing Trump’s own attacks on critics of the far-right political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead in September. That killing prompted reprisals from the White House against those who cited Kirk’s history of hostile rhetoric toward immigrants, women and other marginalized groups. And Goldberg said: “I don’t understand the man in the White House. He spoke at length about Charlie Kirk and about caring, and then this is what he puts out. Have you no shame? No shame at all? Can you get any lower? I don’t think so.”
Meanwhile, California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X: “This is a sick man.”
Echoing Newsom, US House member Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Florida Democrat, said: “What a despicable piece of garbage.”
US senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, similarly said of Trump: “He’s just lost it. Now saying Rob and Michele Reiner caused their own murder because they didn’t support him. So sick.”
US House member Zoe Lofgren, another California Democrat, called Trump’s comments “a new low for this petty, hateful man”. Lofgren added: “His party needs to condemn this.”
Similarly, US House member Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote: “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.”
Read the full story:
ShareTrump doubles down on Rob Reiner statement, mocking dead director again
Asked by a reporter if he stands by his statement on Rob Reiner’s death after a number of Republicans have denounced it, Trump doesn’t offer any sympathy, doubles down on his dislike for Reiner AND refers to himself in the third person.
Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all, he was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.
He knew it was false, in fact it was the exact opposite, but he said that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia, 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.
Updated at 16.17 EST
Per my earlier post, Trump confirms that he’s considering an executive order to reclassify marijuana “because a lot of people want to see it … because it leads to a tremendous amount of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify it.”
“We are looking at that very strongly,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office.
Updated at 15.55 EST
Trump says he’s suing the BBC ‘probably this afternoon or tomorrow morning’ for ‘putting words in my mouth’
Trump says he’s suing the BBC for “putting words in my mouth” and that he’ll be filing the suit “probably this afternoon or tomorrow morning”.
He suggests the BBC used AI to put words in his mouth. But the broadcaster is not accused of changing the words Trump said; rather it is accused of editing a speech that Trump made on 6 January 2021 in such a way that made it appear clearer that he encouraged the US Capitol attack.
Below is a side-by-side comparison of the original and edited footage in question, which shows how the BBC selectively edited the speech.
An edition of Panorama, broadcast a week before the 2024 US election, spliced together clips of the speech, suggesting that Trump told the crowd: ‘We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.’ The words were taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart.
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general; and the head of BBC News resigned over the affair, and the broadcaster issued an apology.
Side-by-side comparison of BBC-edited Trump speech from day of Capitol attack with original – videoShare
Updated at 16.08 EST
“America’s adversaries are trafficking fentanyl into the United States at least in part because they want to kill Americans,” he says.
ShareTrump says he will sign executive order classifying fentanyl as ‘weapon of mass destruction’
“With this historic executive order I will sign today, we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, which is what it is,” Trump says.
“These are a direct military threat to the United States of America,” Trump says of the boats. “They’re trying to drug out our country.” He then appears to compare the US to China during the Opium Wars.
Updated at 15.34 EST
Trump suggests US is going to start hitting drug smugglers on land
Turning to a mix of the border, gas prices and drug smuggling, Trump claims drug smuggling by sea is “down 94%”, adding: “And we’re going to start hitting them on land.”
Trump says he hopes they can get Russia and Ukraine “on the same page” in order to end the war.
ShareTrump says ‘we’re closer now than ever’ to ending Russia’s war in Ukraine
“I think we’re closer now than we have been ever,” he adds, referring to the prospect of ending the war. “We’re having tremendous support from European leaders, they want to get it ended also.”
Updated at 15.27 EST
He says he had “very long and very good talks” with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the heads of Germany, Italy, Nato, Finland, France, the UK, Poland, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
“Things are going along pretty well,” he says again.
Trump says they’ve also had numerous conversations with Vladimir Putin.
Updated at 15.28 EST
Trump says he had a “very good conversation” with European leaders about an hour ago regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We had a long discussion and things are seemingly going well, but we’ve been saying that for a long time” he says. “It’s a difficult one.”
Updated at 15.25 EST
Donald Trump is taking part in a border defense medal ceremony now. I’ll bring you any key lines if he says anything newsworthy.
“This statement is wrong,” Republican representative Mike Lawler, of New York, wrote on X today in response to Donald Trump’s reaction to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner.
Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.
He joins a number of fellow Republicans outraged by the president’s attack on the director, who was killed alongside his wife at their home in Los Angeles. In a separate post Lawler paid tribute to Reiner’s work, and called the couple’s deaths “heartbreaking”. He wrote:
Rob Reiner was an iconic actor, director, and producer. He directed some of my favorite films, including A Few Good Men and the American President. Rob and his wife Michele’s death is a tragedy and heartbreaking. May their memory always be a blessing — his legacy will endure.
Former president Bill Clinton said he and wife Hillary Clinton were “heartbroken by the tragic deaths of our friends Rob and Michele Reiner”. In a post on X he continued:
They inspired and uplifted millions through their work in film and television. And they were good, generous people who made everyone who knew them better through their active citizenship in defense of inclusive democracy, setting an example for us all to follow. Hillary and I will always be grateful for their friendship, unfailing kindness and support.