President issues bizarre statement after film director and wife found dead and their son arrested

Iona Cleave.  Daniel Bates. 15 December 2025

Donald Trump said “Trump derangement syndrome” had contributed to the death of director Rob Reiner and his wife after they were found dead with slit throats at their Los Angeles home.

Nick Reiner, 32, the couple’s son, was arrested after they were found dead by their daughter with their throats slit at their LA home.

Mr Trump issued a bizarre statement in which he suggested Reiner’s “obsession” with him contributed to his death.

“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,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He continued: “He [Reiner] 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!”

The US president doubled down on his remarks in the Oval Office on Monday evening, calling him “deranged” and saying he was “very bad” for America.

“I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all in any way, shape or form,” he said.

But Marjorie Taylor Greene, the president’s ally turned foe, said: “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.”

Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, also criticised the president: “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered.”

He added: “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.”

Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump advisor, laughed off the “fake outrage” over the the president’s comments. He said on X: “Rob Reiner called for Trump to be arrested and charged with treason, a crime punishable by death. He was quite nasty toward the President. Regardless, RIP!”

Nick previously struggled with drug addiction, which began in his early teens and left him living intermittently on the streets.

In 2016, he told People: “I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas. I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”

His experience later became the story of a semi-autobiographical film, Being Charlie, which he co-wrote and his father directed. Nick, who admitted in interviews that he “didn’t bond” with his father, said the film had brought them closer together.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3.30pm on Sunday and found a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman dead inside the building. Reiner turned 78 in March.

Showbusiness website TMZ reported that the Reiners had their throats slit, allegedly by a family member.

Reiner was one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood. His work included some of the most memorable films of the 1980s and 90s, including This is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride. He also acted, starring in Sleepless in Seattle and The Wolf of Wall Street, among others.

Michele Reiner was ‍at one time a photographer, and took the image of Mr Trump that appears on the cover of his book Trump: The Art of the ⁠Deal.

A spokesman for the Reiner family said: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”

Billy Crystal, who starred in When Harry Met Sally alongside Meg Ryan, was seen at the Reiner family home looking distraught hours after the bodies were discovered. Crystal was accompanied by his wife Janice, who appeared to be wiping a tear from her eye.

The comedian and actor Larry David, who was friends with Reiner, was also seen at the home and appeared upset too, a neighbour said.

Reiner, the son of the actor and screenwriter Carl Reiner, met his wife while he was directing When Harry Met Sally. They married in 1989 and had three children together, Jake, 34, Nick, and Romy.

Reiner also adopted a daughter, Tracy Reiner, 61, with his first wife, Penny Marshall, who played Laverne in Laverne & Shirley.

Jake, a former sports reporter, was inspired by his father’s love of baseball. He later moved into acting and producing.

Romy, who has a few small acting credits in American films, was often pictured on the red carpet and on holiday with her parents.

Reiner was a Democrat, backing John Kerry in 2004 and featured in advertisements ‍taking aim at the incumbent president George W Bush. He also supported the Democratic presidential hopefuls Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, and was a critic of Mr Trump.

Barack Obama, the former president, paid tribute, writing on X: “Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen.

“But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people – and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action.”

Actor Jerry O’Connell, who starred in the 1986 film Stand By Me, which Reiner directed, told CBS News that the late director earned his respect because he “did the work”.

O’Connell said: “Rob was a nepo baby. His father was a huge comedy star but Rob did the work.

“On All In The Family they did maybe close to 200 episodes… he had so much experience by the time he was directing Stand By Me.

“I was talking to (co-stars) Corey Feldman and Wil Wheaton about it last night, he would feed us new lines that weren’t written, ad lib lines.

“That was just from hundreds of hours of television, thousands of hours working there. The guy did the work, he had so much experience.”

O’Connell told CBS: “I don’t mean this as any offence to my parents. Rob was like a father to me. It’s just surreal, it really is. Everything I have is because of Rob Reiner.”

Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, called Reiner’s death a devastating loss for the city.

She said in a statement: “Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice.

“An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”

Eric Idle, the British actor and star of Monty Python, revealed he spoke to Reiner hours before his death. In a tribute, he wrote: “Rob Reiner was a lovely man. I spoke to him last night for over an hour. I always enjoyed his company.

“Last thing he said to me was: ‘See you next year.’ Such a terrible end. Such a sweet man.”

He also said they discussed “filming at Stonehenge and his thoughts for the future”.

In a statement, actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband Christopher Guest said: “Christopher and I are numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends Rob and Michele Singer Reiner and our only focus and care right now is for their children and immediate families and we will offer all support possible to help them.

“There will be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared and the great political and social impact they both had on the entertainment industry, early childhood development, the fight for gay marriage and their global care for a world in crisis. We have lost great friends. Please give us time to grieve.”