President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on Tuesday at the White House.
Kirk’s assassination shocked the nation just over a month ago, after he was killed while debating students and others at Utah Valley University. Trump held the ceremony Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden, with members of TPUSA, as well as friends and Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk attending.
“Today, we’re here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, a beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody [has] ever seen before, and an American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest caliber, the late, great Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Five weeks ago, our nation was robbed of this extraordinary champion.”
Just a day after Kirk’s assassination, Trump announced he would award his friend the Medal of Freedom.(RELATED: TPUSA Isn’t Going Anywhere — And The Left ‘Should Be Terrified’)
The award, given on Kirk’s birthday, was accepted by Erika Kirk, who delivered an emotional speech reflecting on her husband’s legacy.
“But now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have,” Erika Kirk said. “It’s such an honor and the recognition of a life lived for defending freedom, and that’s what Charlie fought for until his last breath. It was written across his chest in those final moments on one of his simple T-shirts that always carried a message, and this one bearing a single word, freedom.”
President Donald Trump posthumously awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to late Charlie Kirk as he presents the Medal to his wife Erika Kirk. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“That was the banner over his life, and that shirt was a declaration. The same declaration he made in every speech, every campus visit, every time he shared the gospel at a church, every sleepless night that he would spend praying for the youth of this nation and planning for the future of our country and just impressing upon them that when we defend liberty, we defend the soul of our nation,” Erika Kirk added.
On Sept. 21, , TPUSA held a service for supporters and friends at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium, with thousands gathering to honor the 31-year-old’s legacy. During the event, supporters told the Daily Caller News Foundation how Kirk had shaped their lives, with some becoming emotional.
In addition to the award, Trump signed a proclamation declaring Oct. 14 a “National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk.”
“On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 10, 2025, pure evil struck when the legendary Charlie Kirk was assassinated in broad daylight in a campus courtyard, triggering a groundswell of righteous fury all across our land,” the proclamation states.
“Today, our Nation honors the immortal memory of Charlie — a father, a husband, a Christian martyr, and a titan of the American conservative movement,” the proclamation continues. “We honor his life, we send our condolences to his beautiful family, and we pledge to advance the values for which he laid down his life.”
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