Claim:
Film director Rob Reiner said: “Donald Trump is the single most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States. He’s mentally unfit.”
Rating:
Following Rob Reiner’s death in December 2025, social media users alleged the late film director once called U.S. President Donald Trump “the single most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency” and “mentally unfit.”
The quote spread on platforms including X, Facebook and Threads.
Reiner did, in fact, say the aforementioned quote during a filmed interview with entertainment publication Variety at the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2017. As such, we have rated this a correct attribution.
Reiner’s interview with Variety was focused on his 2017 film “Shock and Awe,” which is based on a true story about a group of journalists who investigated former President George W. Bush’s (false) claim that Saddam Hussein, then-president of Iraq, had weapons of mass destruction — one of the primary reasons the U.S. gave for invading Iraq in 2003.
Here’s what Reiner said about Trump’s qualifications in full, starting at 2:43 (emphasis ours):
Donald Trump is the single most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States. He’s mentally unfit. Not only does he not understand how government works, but he has no interest in trying to find out how government works in America.
Lyndon Johnson was — except for the Vietnam War, which is a terrible stain on his legacy — was probably the most effective and successful president, as far as domestic policy is concerned, second to maybe Franklin Roosevelt. So when we’re talking about Lyndon Johnson and Donald Trump, they couldn’t be at further ends of the spectrum.
Here’s the full video published by Variety:
Snopes previously confirmed that Trump claimed Reiner died from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and that Reiner called conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death an “absolute horror.”
Sources
NPR. “The Reporting before the Iraq War in ‘Shock and Awe.'” NPR, 15 July 2018, www.npr.org/2018/07/15/629212990/the-reporting-before-the-iraq-war-in-shock-and-awe. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.
“President Discusses Beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Archives.gov, The White House, 22 Mar. 2003, georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030322.html.
“Shock and Awe.” Imdb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt5540992/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.
The Commission on Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. 31 Mar. 2005, policy.defense.gov/portals/11/Documents/hdasa/references/GPO-WMD.pdf.
The White House. “Saddam Hussein’s Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Archives.gov, 29 Apr. 2003, georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/iraq/decade/sect3.html.
Variety. “Trump Is ‘Mentally Unfit’ to Be U.S. President, Rob Reiner Says.” YouTube, 13 Dec. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGX4xfYyq_E. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.
