In the frantic hours after conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk was assassinated in broad daylight, some inside Donald Trump’s orbit reportedly feared the killing was not just a lone attack — but part of something far more chilling.
According to a new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, members of Trump’s inner circle privately worried that Iranian nationals may have been behind Kirk’s murder after Secret Service officials had previously warned about foreign plots to kill Trump himself.
Kirk, a close Trump ally and founder of Turning Point USA, was gunned down on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University, sending shockwaves through the conservative movement and leaving the president’s team scrambling for answers.
In the early chaos, White House aides reportedly feared Iran may have shifted its focus to the people closest to Trump after failing to reach the president.
“His aides had been told that if Iran’s assassins couldn’t get to Trump, their next best option could be the soft targets around him — his children and close allies,” Haberman and Swan write in Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.
The warning reportedly created a climate of fear inside Trump’s operation, with some aides believing Kirk fit the terrifying profile of a vulnerable target.
Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich reportedly described Kirk as a “very visible, very soft target.”
Kirk was not just another political commentator. To millions of young conservatives, he was one of the most recognizable voices in the America First movement. To Trump, he was a loyal friend, fierce supporter and key figure in rallying young voters behind the conservative cause.
That made the killing even more horrifying for Trump’s team.
Hours after Kirk was shot in the middle of the crowded campus quad, Trump addressed the nation and suggested the attack may have been connected to terrorism. Behind closed doors, according to the book, Iran was viewed as a serious concern.
The fear reportedly reached Trump’s own family.
Barron Trump, then a teenager, allegedly called his father in a panic after hearing what happened to Kirk.
“This is what happens when you go out there,” Barron reportedly told him.
Trump tried to calm his son down, telling him, “Calm down, honey, calm down,” though the book claims the president himself was clearly shaken by the call.
For Trump’s supporters, Kirk’s murder became more than a national tragedy. It became a brutal reminder of the dangers facing high-profile conservatives in an increasingly hostile political climate.
Just over a month after the killing, Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
During a Rose Garden ceremony, Trump presented the medal to Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, while praising her late husband as a “visionary” and “amazing person” who was “way, way beyond his years.”
“Charlie is attaining a far more important milestone,” Trump said. “We are entering his name forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes. He’s a true American hero.”
The emotional ceremony cemented Kirk’s place as a martyr-like figure for many on the right, with Trump describing him as a champion of conservative values, freedom and the next generation of Republican voters.
Meanwhile, the man accused of killing Kirk, Tyler Robinson, remains tied up in the legal process.
Robinson is facing multiple charges, including aggravated murder, connected to the Utah Valley University shooting. He has not yet entered a formal plea.
Prosecutors say they have powerful evidence against him, including text messages allegedly sent to his trans partner, whose legal name is Lance Twiggs and who goes by Luna.
In one alleged message, Robinson reportedly told Twiggs to look under his computer keyboard, where authorities say a note was found.
“If you are reading this per my text, then I am so sorry,” the note allegedly stated. “I left the house this morning on a mission, and set an auto text. I am likely dead, or facing a lengthy prison sentence. I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.”
Twiggs was reportedly stunned by the alleged confession, responding, “You’re joking, right????”
When asked why he shot Kirk, Robinson allegedly replied that he had “had enough of” Kirk’s “hatred” and claimed that “some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
For Trump’s allies, the disturbing case has only deepened questions about political violence, foreign threats and the growing dangers faced by outspoken conservatives in America.
What began as a horrifying campus shooting quickly turned into a moment of national panic inside Trump’s world — one that reportedly had the president’s own team wondering whether one of America’s biggest foreign enemies had finally found a way to strike close to home.
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This old sixties guy would really like some of drugs Trump is taking!!!! Why would Iran give a damn about Kirk?