President Trump said on Thursday that he will award Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, at a ceremony in the days ahead.
Mr. Trump made the announcement at the Pentagon, at the start of his remarks at a ceremony honoring those killed during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans” have felt “at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk,” he said.
Mr. Kirk, 31, was among the most significant movement leaders in the modern political era, having galvanized a younger generation of conservatives to engage in politics and then, in 2024, to back Mr. Trump in his campaign to return to the White House. He was assassinated on a college campus, one of many he visited and engaged with questions from students debating his views.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” Mr. Trump said, offering prayers to Mr. Kirk’s wife and his two young children. “We miss him greatly. Yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”
Mr. Trump said that he will soon honor Mr. Kirk and predicted that there would a “very big crowd” for the ceremony.
Mr. Trump then told stories of some of the victims of the 2001 attacks, describing people who had left behind spouses and children when hijacked planes struck sites in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
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