Trump claims Rob Reiner killing linked to ‘Trump derangement syndrome’. What is TDS?

US President Trump disparaged Hollywood director Rob Reiner, who died along with his wife over the weekend in what officials are investigating as a homicide. Their 32-year-old son, Nick, has been arrested.

Reiner, 78, was a prominent supporter of the Democratic Party and a vocal Trump critic.




“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Monday morning.

“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.”



He went on to say that Reiner had a “raging obsession” with him, “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.” His post concluded with, “May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”

What is Trump derangement syndrome?

Trump derangement syndrome was firstly coined by Trump, which he explained as the instinctual negative and often violent reaction to any supportive statement or event related to him.

In Minnesota, legislators proposed a bill seeking to classify intense opposition to Donald Trump, termed “Trump derangement syndrome”, as a mental health condition.

The legislation specifically describes this condition as involving “verbal expressions of intense hostility toward” Donald Trump and “overt acts of aggression and violence against anyone supporting [Trump] or anything that symbolises [Trump].”

The initiative raised serious concerns about constitutional freedoms, particularly the right to criticise public officials. It potentially created a precedent for using psychiatric interventions as a means of controlling political dissent.

Observers drew parallels to previous instances where mental health practitioners expressed concerns about Trump’s psychological state, suggesting he had a serious personality disorder.

Experts emphasised that legitimate psychiatric diagnoses require proper examination by qualified, licensed mental health professionals. They warned that the practice of politicians attempting to pathologise their opponents through legislation, as well as mental health professionals offering remote diagnoses of public figures, presents significant risks to societal well-being and professional integrity.