U.S. President Donald Trump and the Kennedy family have a history, sure. But on Tuesday, Trump delivered a particularly jarring rant at a horrible time, and almost everyone agrees.
It had only been a few hours since the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced the death of Tatiana Schlossberg, who was President John F. Kennedy‘s granddaughter. That’s when Trump launched a flurry of anti-Kennedy posts on his favorite social media platform, Truth Social. Schlossberg was an environmental journalist and author who died Tuesday morning at 35 due to acute myeloid leukemia. Oddly enough, Trump was resurrecting weeks-old stories and social media posts aimed at the Kennedy clan by afternoon.
The timing was tricky as the foundation just confirmed Schlossberg’s death:
“She will always be in our hearts.”
The loss rippled through the extended Kennedy family, as expected. Maria Shriver is Schlossberg’s cousin, and she posted a tribute to Tatiana’s courage and love of life, urging people to remember “what a gift” being alive is. Shriver also wrote that the family would rally around Schlossberg’s children, Eddie and Josie, so that they could grow up knowing their mother and what she stood for.
In the early afternoon, ET, the Kennedy family announced that JFK’s granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg had died from cancer.
A few hours later, President Trump re-posted some social media garbage attacking the Kennedy family. pic.twitter.com/1gRaX8V71y
— Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) December 31, 2025
Schlossberg had opened up about her illness just weeks earlier in an essay for The New Yorker, where she revealed she was diagnosed with leukemia after giving birth to her second child. She got a stem cell transplant, entered remission, and thought she could relax for a while. Then she learned the cancer had returned and was terminal this time.
Against that backdrop, Trump’s Truth Social spree couldn’t come at a worse time, could it?
So Trump suddenly started reposting articles and comments from two weeks earlier and kept defending the fact that he added his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The renamed venue has sparked a lot of backlash from artists who have been canceling performances. Kennedy family members, on the other hand, are saying that this move disrespects JFK’s legacy.
In his rant, Trump was highlighting praise from allies, including Richard Grenell, whom he himself appointed to lead the Kennedy Center, along with Republican figures like Senator Lindsey Graham. He also shared images of his name in oversized letters with the Kennedy Center branding. He further reshared criticism of the Kennedy family from far-right commentators.
While relatives remembered Schlossberg as “wicked smart” and loving toward her family, Trump thought it was best to engage in the ongoing culture war. The White House has not commented on these posts.
My heart breaks for the family of Tatiana Schlossberg.
Deepest condolences to her parents Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, siblings Rose and Jack, her husband George, and their two children.
It’s devastating to think of the sorrows the Kennedy family has endured.
💔🕊️ pic.twitter.com/fXsLsDzAWK
— Jane of the North (@JaneotN) December 31, 2025
Earlier this month, some Kennedys, including Maria Shriver, Tim Shriver, and Kerry Kennedy, called the renaming “beyond comprehension” and “weird.” The center was a memorial to JFK’s commitment to the arts, and they say Trump goes directly against it.
Do you think Trump cares at all about the timing? Or does he care too much?
