Trump Declares Oct. 14 ‘National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk’

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Tuesday in the Oval Office declaring Oct. 14 a “National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk” in honor of the slain conservative commentator. 

“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 reads. “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.” 

Trump remembered his friend for his strong faith and commitment to open dialogue. 

“Every day, Charlie devoted himself to a set of simple causes: Defending the truth, encouraging debate, and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” the proclamation reads. “He was gracious and articulate beyond measure, always welcomed opposing perspectives, and never deviated from his noble goal of bridging our political, cultural, and philosophical divides.” 

The president vowed to curb the “devastating wave of political violence” impacting the nation. 

“No civilized country can endure a culture where open debate is met with gunfire, the pursuit of truth is met with bloodshed, and love of country is met with seething hatred,” he wrote. 

Margo Martin, special assistant to the president, posted a video on X of Trump—accompanied by Mrs. Erika Kirk—signing the proclamation while listening to the hit song “Memory” from the musical Cats.

“Remember Charlie on the patio,” Trump said in the video, reminiscing about spending time at his home, Mar-a-Lago, with Kirk. “He could sit there all night long listening to this.” 

He also posthumously awarded the Christian activist with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during an event in the White House Rose Garden earlier in the day. 

“Today, we’re here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, a beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody I’ve 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. 

Kirk’s wife said that God worked through her husband to launch a “mighty work” that lives on in the thousands of Turning Point USA chapters across the country.

On what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday, she remembered his love of liberty.

“He wanted to multiply freedom,” she said. “He wanted young people to taste it and to understand it and defend it. He wanted them to see that liberty isn’t self-indulgence; it’s self-governance under God. He wanted them to see that.

“Happy Birthday, my Charlie,” she said. “Happy freedom day.”

Overcome with emotion, she thanked the president for recognizing her husband’s achievements.

“I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have,” she said.