Trump awards Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the federal government’s highest civilian honor — to conservative activist and Turning Level USA founder Charlie Kirk on Tuesday, over a month after he was fatally shot on a Utah school campus. 

Throughout a ceremony within the White Home’s Rose Backyard on what would have been Kirk’s thirty second birthday, Mr. Trump known as Kirk a “fearless warrior for liberty” and credited the political activist with serving to him win a higher share of the under-30 vote in final yr’s presidential race.

The president additionally spent a part of his speech railing towards “radical left violence” — a frequent theme for his administration in current weeks, notably since Kirk’s assassination. 

Mr. Trump additionally argued that the struggle over the federal government shutdown “would have been over already” if Kirk had been concerned.

“He would have had a march on the Capitol by folks whose common age is about 21, as a result of there’s no one that had that relationship with younger folks,” the president stated. 

The medal was accepted by Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who now leads Turning Level USA. Throughout an emotional speech, she known as the medal “the very best birthday present he might ever have” and stated at one level: “Surprisingly sufficient, he did pray for his enemies” — after Mr. Trump stated earlier that the activist “did not essentially love these enemies a lot.”

The president and Kirk had been allies for nearly a decade. Kirk was a staunch supporter of Mr. Trump throughout all three of his presidential campaigns. Kirk labored carefully with Donald Trump Jr. in 2016. He remained near Mr. Trump following his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020 and helped lead grassroots organizing efforts in 2024.

Kirk additionally helped to form final yr’s presidential ticket, and by extension, the second Trump administration. He inspired Mr. Trump to choose Vice President JD Vance as his operating mate, and he brokered an alliance between Mr. Trump and former Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Mr. Trump introduced plans to provide Kirk the Medal of Freedom someday after the taking pictures at Utah Valley College. The president additionally spoke at an Arizona memorial service for Kirk final month, the place he known as the assassination “an assault on our total nation.” 

Prosecutors in Utah final month charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with aggravated homicide in Kirk’s demise and have signaled plans to hunt the demise penalty.

Kirk is the primary individual to formally obtain the Medal of Freedom in Mr. Trump’s second time period. The president has additionally promised to provide the award to former New York Metropolis mayor and former Trump private lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Some 670 folks have been awarded the Medal of Freedom since its inception 80 years in the past, in line with the Congressional Analysis Service. Mr. Trump granted the award to 24 folks throughout his first time period, together with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, skilled golfer Tiger Woods and, posthumously, Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth and Antonin Scalia.