President Donald Trump told CNBC on Thursday that he believes “the country will heal” in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
CNBC’s Joe Kernen said Trump lamented Kirk’s death in a phone call, describing himself as “devastated.” Kernen said Trump told him Kirk helped him win the 2024 presidential election and that he thought Kirk himself could’ve one day been president.
“Then he went on to say, ‘The country will heal,'” Kernen said, recounting the call. “He’s focused on what he has been focused on. And he says, ‘I’m focused on winning. If the country wins, and if I do everything I can to help the country win, then we’re all going to be able to come together again.'”
Kirk, the co-founder of conservative political organization Turning Point USA and a prominent Trump ally, was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem.
The search for his killer remains ongoing. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, law enforcement officials said they recovered the rifle used to kill Kirk, as well as a footprint and palm print of the shooter.
The shooter “appears to be of college age,” Utah Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said. He also said authorities have “good video footage” of the individual.
The Utah Department of Public Safety initially detained two people on Wednesday before releasing them because they had no connection to the shooting.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., December 22, 2024.
Cheney Orr | Reuters
Trump on Wednesday ordered American flags to be lowered to half-staff until sunset on Sunday in Kirk’s honor.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
