Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited the FBI’s raid on President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort when asked about Trump’s statement on former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s death.
Trump is receiving backlash for saying he’s “glad” Mueller died at 81, saying the former director “can no longer hurt innocent people” on Truth Social. Bessent said Sunday he watched footage of “what may have been an illegal raid” on Mar-a-Lago when asked about the appropriateness of Trump’s remark.
“[The FBI was] going through his wife’s wardrobe, and I watched the look in his eye, and I think that neither one of us can understand what has been done to the president and to his family,” Bessent said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
ROBERT MUELLER HAS DIED AT 81, TRUMP SAYS HE’S ‘GLAD’
NBC’s Kristen Welker said Mueller did not order the raid on Mar-a-Lago, and pressed Bessent on whether it’s appropriate for the president to celebrate the death of any United States citizen. Bessent responded that it is “impossible” for either him or Welker to understand what Trump has been through.
“Again, I think that the, uh — we should all have a little empathy for what has been done to him and his family,” Bessent said.
Multiple Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Jason Crow (D-CO), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) have condemned Trump as “vile” over his remark against the former FBI director.
Mueller served as the second-longest FBI director in history, behind J. Edgar Hoover. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2021; his family announced the diagnosis in 2025.
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Trump previously received pushback over his statement on Hollywood director Rob Reiner’s death in December. The Princess Bride director was a vocal critic of Trump online, and the president said on Truth Social that Reiner “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.” Reiner’s son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on felony charges following his parents’ death, and he pleaded not guilty to the murder of his parents in February.
Five Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in condemning Trump’s statement on Reiner.