WASHINGTON — “In shock.”
“Just sick.”
“Devastated.”
Those were the initial reactions of White House officials who watched as reports started to flood in that conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been shot at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon.
Aides briefed President Donald Trump in real time as events unfolded, meeting with his team in the Oval Office as other officials monitored developments from the Situation Room.
Senior communications officials immediately huddled in an area in the West Wing known as Upper Press, where an expletive could be heard as a door shut behind them.
Staffers are deeply shaken by the tragedy, with many of them pointing to their own personal connections to Kirk from the 2016 campaign and in the decade since. Some worked, through tears, as cable channels played in the background, noting that the shooter was still at large.
Messages of solidarity poured out on social media from all levels of the administration, including from Trump — who was the first to announce Kirk’s death — and Vice President JD Vance, who called for prayers for Kirk and his family.
Vance was close friends with Kirk. In 2022, Kirk campaigned alongside Vance in the closing days of his competitive Ohio Senate primary, and Kirk was one of the people he credited with his win.
Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, was a major force in the Trump universe, and it helped drive the Trump campaign’s get-out-the-vote efforts last year.
“Everyone was crushed,” said an adviser to the administration who was at the White House when news of Kirk’s death started to spread.
For many of those officials, Kirk’s killing was personal, both because he was so well-known by staffers and because it brought back painful memories of the two assassination attempts on their boss just over a year ago.
Donald Trump Jr. released a lengthy, heartfelt message Wednesday night on X, saying Kirk was “like a little brother to me.”
“Moments like this remind us just how fragile life is,” he wrote. “We can’t wait to tell people how much they mean to us — we can’t admire them in silence. Charlie knew he was loved, but I want to say it again: he was a brother to me, and I will carry that with me forever.”
In the early evening, flags on campus were lowered to half-staff. At least one senior White House official was seen watching the solemn gesture outside the West Wing doors, wiping away tears.
Amanda Terkel and Vaughn Hillyard contributed.
