Rob Reiner's Most Outspoken Opinions On Donald Trump

The late Rob Reiner was perhaps best known for his work as the critically acclaimed director of the films "This is Spinal Tap," "Stand By Me," "Misery," "The Princess Bride," and "When Harry Met Sally," not to mention his portrayal of Meathead in the seminal '70s sitcom, "All in the Family." However, his passion didn't stop at filmmaking. Reiner was also known for being an outspoken Democrat who used his position to champion various issues, including childhood education and the right to gay marriage. He was also a proud, card-carrying member of the "celebs who can't stand Donald Trump" club.

Following the tragic death of Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Trump reacted to Reiner's opinions of him over the years with a controversial statement on Truth Social, joining a cacophony of other influential people and celebrities reacting to Reiner's tragic death. Trump's comments, though, stood out for their cruelty, with the president calling Reiner "a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star," before claiming that the tragedy was "reportedly" a result of so-called "Trump Derangement Syndrome." Trump added, "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." 

While Trump's statement was certainly self-aggrandizing and petty, he's not wrong about Reiner's opinion of him. From deeming the president "mentally unfit" to likening Trump to an autocrat, Reiner made his disdain for Trump abundantly clear over the years.

Rob Reiner made headlines everywhere in December 2017 while attending the Dubai International Film Festival. During an interview with Variety promoting his film "Shock and Awe," Reiner declared that Donald Trump was "mentally unfit" to be the United States president. "Donald Trump is the single most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States. He is mentally unfit. Not only does he not understand how government works, he has no interest in trying to find out how it works," he told the entertainment publication.

In the same interview, Reiner also took President George W. Bush and his administration to task as well, which tied into the film he was promoting. "The biggest single foreign policy disaster was the invasion of Iraq," Reiner said, a sentiment which was ironically shared by Trump (though he supported the invasion and war at the time).

As one can imagine, Reiner's remarks triggered an outpouring of both praise and criticism. "Rob Reiner is a legend!" one person wrote in the comments section on the YouTube video of the interview. Meanwhile, another wrote, "Rob your [sic] unfit to hold that mic u clown! BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT!!!"

In 2018, Rob Reiner poked the bees' nest of MAGA loyalists once again when he likened Trump's presidency to that of an autocracy. "We're in a place right now where democracy is on very shaky ground, in America and all over the world, and the autocrats' playbook is to sow confusion and insecurity and blame other people for everyone's lot in life, and then the autocrat comes in and says: I alone can fix this," Reiner told The Guardian in July 2018. He then drew a comparison, pointing to Brexit and — you guessed it — Trump's presidential campaign.

Reiner doubled down on that sentiment during an October 2025 appearance on MSNBC's "Velshi."  While discussing the presence of ICE agents and the National Guard in various cities across the country at Trump's behest, Reiner said, "Make no mistake, we have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy, and democracy completely leaves us."

Reiner went on to float the theory that polling booths could end up being patrolled by armed military guards during the midterm elections in 2026, which would then give way to protests that would inevitably turn violent, ultimately giving Trump the ability to "commandeer" future elections. Does that sound like so-called Trump derangement syndrome or simply a fair assessment of the current political climate? We'll let you be the judge.

While discussing all the times Rob Reiner spoke out against Donald Trump, we would be absolutely remiss not to mention the director's own Trump-style Twitter rant of epic proportions, where he referred to the sitting president as a "mentally unstable criminal." In the viral tweet from December 21, 2018, Reiner wrote (via The Hill), "Each day this mentally unstable man takes a step closer to destroying 242 yrs. of self rule. And though Democrats want to be restrained, impeachment is inevitable." Reiner was right — Trump was impeached almost exactly one year after that message, and was impeached again in 2021.

Lest we forget, there was also an instance in May 2023, around Trump's lowest point in recent years. Reiner couldn't contain his contempt for his arch-nemesis during what ended up being a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad CNN town hall for Trump. That event saw Trump refer to the woman who accused him of sexual assault, E. Jean Carroll, as "a whack job," which is no doubt another media moment Trump can never erase, considering it cost him $83 million in a defamation case. Trump also reiterated his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Reiner reacted in real time on Twitter, calling Trump "a Liar, a Criminal, and is mentally ill," (via The New York Daily News). Again, Reiner wasn't exactly fibbing — Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in May 2023.