Trump reveals personal impact of Charlie Kirk's assassination

President Donald Trump recently revealed that the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in September impacted him “terribly” and changed his perspective on security. 

During a Thursday interview with the Washington Examiner in the Oval Office, Trump addressed how Kirk’s assassination in September impacted him personally. 

“It impacted me terribly,” Trump said. “Look, he was a great guy. He was for me all the way. All the way. It was so incredible when you heard it. I thought they must be wrong. It couldn’t be. And then when you saw the viciousness of it, but I don’t want to look at that. I mean, I got the whole picture.”

The president told the Washington Examiner that he observed a special character quality in the Turning Point USA founder that made Kirk so popular with younger generations of Americans.

“He had a mystique,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “He had something special over the young people attracted to him.”

Commenting on the senseless violence that led to Kirk’s assassination while addressing thousands of people at Utah Valley University, Trump said, “It was just hard to believe. He was a good person. He was not like somebody that’s a bad person. He was a hard worker. His wife is very good. Charlie really loved his wife.”

The Washington Examiner reported that Trump acknowledged that he would likely not be able to hold his massive outdoor rallies in the future after surviving two assassination attempts himself and after Kirk was assassinated at an outdoor Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. 

“The outdoor rallies. I love them, but I probably have to be careful. It’s hard,” Trump said. “The indoor rallies you can do.”

Reflecting on the massive number of rallies he held during the 2024 presidential election, Trump told the Washington Examiner, “The last four months were perfect. No days off, no nothing. I did either rallies, sometimes they did two rallies in a day. But in the last week, I’d do four or five rallies in a day. We had rallies at 8 o’clock in the morning. At 11 o’clock. At 1 o’clock. It was crazy. The only thing I was worried about was, will I lose my voice.”