The president’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s assassination shows how much the 31-year-old conservative activist had become a part of the Trump family.
Sept. 11, 2025
When President Trump spoke of his “grief and anger” from the Oval Office only hours after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, it was a striking moment that showed how important the 31-year-old conservative activist had been to the president personally, and how seamlessly he had woven himself into the Trump family fabric.
“I love you brother,” the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote on Wednesday on X.
It was the president himself — not local law enforcement, Mr. Kirk’s spokesman or his family — who announced Mr. Kirk’s death on Wednesday in what was, for him, a rare show of lament. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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Robert Draper is based in Washington and writes about domestic politics. He is the author of several books and has been a journalist for three decades.
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