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Trump Celebrates Mueller’s Death
On March 20, 2026, the death of former FBI Director Robert Mueller was announced. He was 81 and had been living with Parkinson’s disease . Within hours, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” .
Mueller served as special counsel from 2017 to 2019, investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. His 448-page report documented extensive contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials but did not establish a criminal conspiracy. It also detailed potential obstruction of justice by Trump without reaching a legal conclusion . Trump repeatedly called the investigation a “witch hunt” .
The president’s celebration of Mueller’s death drew sharp condemnation. Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume wrote on X: “This is the kind of stuff Trump does that makes people not just oppose him but hate him. There was no need to say anything” . Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) called the post “disgusting” and said Mueller and Trump “represent polar opposites of what a public servant should be” .
A Long History of Crass Remarks
Trump’s reaction to Mueller’s death fits a pattern spanning his entire political career.
John McCain (d. August 2018)
After the Arizona senator’s death, Trump resumed attacks, falsely claiming McCain graduated “last in his class” and accusing him of sharing the “Steele dossier” with the FBI .
John Dingell (d. February 2019)
Trump suggested the longtime Michigan congressman was “looking up” from hell. Dingell’s widow, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), responded: “You brought me down in a way you can never imagine” .
Colin Powell (d. October 2021)
About 24 hours after Powell’s death, Trump released a statement criticizing his “big mistakes on Iraq” and called him a “classic RINO” .
Rob Reiner (d. December 2025)
Hours after Reiner and his wife were found stabbed to death in their home—their son arrested on homicide charges—Trump posted that Reiner had died from “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME” . The comment drew bipartisan condemnation, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) calling it “inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered” .
Controversies Involving Fallen Soldiers
Trump has also faced criticism for his interactions with military families.
In 2017, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) alleged Trump told the pregnant widow of Sgt. La David Johnson—killed in Niger—that her husband “knew what he was signing up for.” Trump denied the comment, but the soldier’s mother confirmed hearing similar remarks .
More recently, on March 18, 2026, the White House posted photos of Trump attending a “dignified transfer” for six service members killed in a plane crash in Iraq. Social media users accused the administration of ignoring families’ requests to keep the ceremony private, calling it a “photo op” using the bodies of fallen soldiers .
“He Can No Longer Hurt Innocent People”
Trump’s statement about Mueller—”He can no longer hurt innocent people!”—echoes language he has used about other targets of his ire . It suggests Mueller’s investigation harmed innocent people, a claim Mueller himself rejected. In a 2019 Washington Post op-ed, Mueller wrote: “We made every decision… based solely on the facts and the law,” adding that claims the inquiry was politically motivated were false .
The controversy underscores how Trump continues to use the death of his adversaries to relitigate old grievances, even as critics across the political spectrum urge restraint .
