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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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President Donald Trump has sparked outrage after posting negative content about the Kennedy family as they reel from the death of Tatiana Schlossberg.
Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy’s granddaughter, a journalist and an author, died Tuesday aged 35 after revealing she had terminal cancer in a November 2025 New Yorker essay.
On the same evening, Trump posted a series of screenshots of other people's X posts criticizing the Kennedy family and the Kennedy Center, amid plans to change its name to the Trump-Kennedy Center.
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This caused a backlash on social media, with CNN anchor Jake Tapper accusing Trump of posting "social media garbage."
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Newsweek reached out to the White House by email to comment on this story outside of normal business hours.
The Context
Schlossberg, the daughter of former U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and designer Edwin Schlossberg, died a month after she disclosed she was given less than a year to live as she battled acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer discovered shortly after she gave birth to her daughter in May 2024.
Schlossberg was diagnosed with AML with Inversion 3, a rare genetic mutation found in less than 2 percent of cases, according to her essay.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the board of the Kennedy Center, which was built to commemorate Kennedy after he was assassinated in 1963, had voted unanimously to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center, although one board member disputed this.
What To Know
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump posted a series of X posts including one calling the Kennedy Center "a crumbling monument to liberal neglect." Another post said Trump "revived the Kennedy Center" and another said "the only Kennedy who is politically important in this country is [current Health and Human Services Secretary] Bobby Kennedy Jr." A fourth said the Kennedys were "totally Democratic Socialists now rooting for America and Trump to fail."
Posting on X, CNN anchor Tapper wrote in response: "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 reposted some social media garbage attacking the Kennedy family."
An account called Protect Kamala Harris, which has over 114,000 followers, wrote: "Just hours after Caroline Kennedy’s daughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, tragically died, Donald Trump has launched a series of social media attacks against her family."
Leonidas K, a Democrat with over 12,000 followers wrote: "As the Kennedys mourned the untimely death of Tatiana Schlossberg—the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy—Trump took to social media to share posts mocking the famous family. This is a sick narcissistic sociopath."
MeidasTouch, an account critical of Trump with 1.2 million followers wrote: "On a day when the Kennedy family is grappling with an unimaginable personal loss, Donald Trump chose to use his platform to launch petty, vindictive attacks against them. Yet another stunning display of cruelty and utter lack of basic human decency."
What People Are Saying
In a joint message from her brother Jack Schlossberg, sister Rose, sister-in-law Rory, mother Caroline Kennedy, father Ed Schlossberg, and her husband George Moran, the family said in a statement: "Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts."
Schlossberg’s cousin Maria Shriver wrote on Instagram: "I return to this space today to pay tribute to my sweet, beloved Tatiana, who left this earth today. I return to this space to pay tribute and honor her loving and supportive family, who came together and did everything they possibly could do to help her. I return to this space heartbroken because Tatiana loved life. She loved her life, and she fought like hell to try to save it."
What Happens Next
Some musicians have canceled shows at the Kennedy Center because of the plan to change its name.
Meanwhile, high-profile figures continue paying tribute to Schlossberg.
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