Charlie Kirk was more than another Maggialie of Donald Trump and his entourage. The 31-year-old conservative was close to many in the White House.
Kash Patel closes his remarks with “Valhalla” homage to Charlie Kirk
Kash Patel commented on the ongoing investigation into Charlie Kirk’s murder and closed it down with a farewell message to Kirk.
WASHINGTON – After Charlie Kirk was killed shortly after being shot and killed by an assassin, President Donald Trump’s staff member Susie Wills has called up White House staff to address the team in pain.
She was faced with a room full of red eyes, as if each had lost a family.
Kirk was more than just another Maggialie. The 31-year-old star conservative influencer was a close friend of many White House aides, and felt like a colleague or sibling as someone he personally knew spoke regularly, highly praised, and was central to Trump’s moves.
“I’m going home. Hold your child. Hold your spouse. Be careful. Take care. And don’t soften your voice,” Wills told White House staff that he told the meeting on a Scott Jennings radio show. “Charlie would want everyone to talk like they did.”
On September 10th, news spread rapidly into the White House, and Kirk was shot. Some saw the alert on Westwing TV, while others were on social media, according to White House staff who discussed the event on condition of anonymity. Staff desperately searched for updates on his condition. They hoped and prayed for the best. Almost two hours later, their worst fears were confirmed. Some cried when they learned that Kirk had died.
It was Trump who broke the news to the public with his true social account post.
“The great and legendary Charlie Kirk is dead,” Trump wrote. “He was loved and admired by everyone, especially me, and now he is no longer with us.”
The president appeared on Fox & Friends on September 12th, where an aide called absent abandoned a meeting with the architect who oversees the construction of the White House Ballroom, telling him that Kirk was shot and killed and presumed to have died.
“Then they came in and said, ‘Charlie Kirk is dead.’ I didn’t know what they meant,” Trump said.
Trump said he will be attending Kirk’s funeral next week. It is scheduled to take place in Phoenix, and it said Turning Point USA, co-founded by Kirk, has its headquarters.
Vice President J.D. Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha, flew Kirk’s widow, Erica, cas, from Salt Lake City in Air Force 2 to Phoenix on September 11th. Kirk has two young children.
Some White House staff came from Kirk’s Youth Pipeline
Wills was tapped as the first female White House chief for her political insight as she led Trump to victory in the 2024 election as his co-campaign manager. But that day – one of the worst of Trump’s second season – was there for the console, not for the strategy.
“He was very close to many of us, and even those who weren’t good friends of him, we knew him. He was very helpful in the campaign,” Wills said. “There’s definitely sadness here.”
The White House treats Kirk’s death as the death of the Maga family. Trump not only announced his death two days later, September 12th, but also defeated the news that the suspect was in custody.
Vance cancelled its scheduled appearance at Ground Zero on 9/11 and flew to Utah to pay homage to Kirk’s family. Kirk’s close friend, Vance, said in his 963-word tribute on X, that Kirk was a good guy and a true friend, and that he was there for him when he ran to the US Senate and when he became Trump’s running companion.
“Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking our families and providing guidance and prayers,” Vance said. “He’s not just a thinker, he’s an activist, and he’s turned big ideas into big events with thousands of activists.”
Kirk was the inspiration for the youngest White House aide to join the Magazine movement. Several White House officials have arrived at their current job after working at Turning Point USA, a conservative outreach group Kirk co-founded by co-founding Republicans on university campuses.
The mood in the White House was grumpy and gloomy for the days after Kirk’s death, with some aides wearing black as they lamented the youth leaders. Trump ordered the flag to fly with a semi-staff and said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom after he died. Devastation and sadness took the course through the building where the president and his aides were in shock.
Trump traveled to New York City, previously planned, to attend a Yankees game on September 11th. The team held Kirk’s moment of silence the previous evening – and stayed in his private home for the night. He said he couldn’t see a horrifying video of Kirk’s murder at Fox the next morning.
“I didn’t want to see it,” Trump said. “I didn’t want to remember Charlie like that.”
Kirk “was like my brother,” says Trump’s son.
For the past decade, Kirk has been recruiting young conservatives to run for office and join the Magazine Movement.
After winning the election against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, Trump believed Kirk helped make a major break-in among younger voters, particularly young male voters.
“Charlie was making spells on the kids, and many of them had a lot of them,” Trump told Fox News. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Trump said his youngest child, Baron, 19, is a Kirk fan. “When he saw this, he was so hurt.”
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the president, said in an emotional X post, that Kirk wasn’t just a close friend — “He was like my younger brother — and millions of people around the world — he was a real inspiration.”
“This is an unimaginable loss. For me, for his family, for all who love him, and for America, I sleep in peace. You will be overlooked more than the words can say, but your legacy will never be forgotten and we will continue to fight a good fight,” writes Trump Jr.
FBI director Kash Patel struggled to hold back tears Friday as he paid tribute to Kirk at a press conference in Utah for the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
“I’m going to take a break to my friend Charlie Kirk, now, brothers,” Patel said.
