Did the late Rob Reiner publicly say he was developing a television series about Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump called "The Spy and the Asset"? Yes, that is true: Reiner announced the project in 2020 on the Mehdi Hasan Show on MSNBC and again talked about it on the Dean Obeidallah Show on Sirius XMradio in 2021.
The Reiner announcement was mentioned in a Dec. 14, 2025 X post (archived here) on the @RyanShead account. The post began "In 2021, Rob Reiner publicly said he was developing a 10- to 13-episode television project about the relationship between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump." It continued:
He described the concept as tracing both men from their childhoods up to the point where their lives intersect, with an eye toward exploring the broader effects of that convergence on democracy. He also said he was working with writer Ward Parry on the project, which he was calling "The Spy and the Asset."
Did MAGA have Epstein and Reiner snuffed? 👀
This is what the post looked like on X at the time this fact check was written:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at x.com/RyanShead/status/2000411300393017564.)
Lead Stories found multiple interviews in which Reiner announced he was at work on the project.
Here's the link to the moment in an October 19, 2020 YouTube video (archived here) of an interview on MSNBC, in which Reiner described the project, saying:
...it has not been given a go-ahead, but I have an idea of not to do a biopic specifically of Trump but it's a story that involves, uh, Trump's rise and also Vladimir Putin's rise and and and to kind of play those against each other ...
The next year, Reiner went on the Dean Obeidallah Show on Sirius XM radio to say the series was going to be called "The Spy and the Asset" and that he had teamed up with an experienced Hollywood writer. Here's the link to the moment Reiner says it in a YouTube video (archived here) of that interview, posted to YouTube June 30, 2021.
