Trump praises Charlie Kirk as American ‘martyr’ at memorial – DW – 09/22/2025

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has urged the United States to stop insisting his country give up nuclear weapons as a recondition to resuming talks.

But in a speech on Sunday, Kim insisted that he will never trade away the nuclear arsenal to be free of sanctions, state KCNA media reported on Monday. 

Kim said that he had “fond memories” of US President Donald Trump, who he met three times during Trump’s first presidency.

But if the US stopped what Kim called its “absurd obsession with denuclearization, … there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States,” the North Korean leader was quoted as saying.

“The world already knows full well what the United States does after it makes a country give up its nuclear weapons and disarms,” Kim said. “We will never give up our nuclear weapons.”

North Korea has been under a series of economic sanctions and arms embargoes. 

But tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated North Korea’s weapons buildup and testing, aligned with Russia in the war in Ukraine and pledged deeper ties with China.

The Charlie Kirk memorial has wrapped up with a rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful” after Trump comforted Kirk’s wife Erika on stage after his speech.

Giving a eulogy before Trump, Erika Kirk called for forgiveness for the man accused of shooting her husband. 

“I forgive him,” said Erika Kirk. “I forgive him because it was what Christ did and what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate.”

This contrasted with words by Trump, who said Kirk “was heinously murdered by a radicalized, cold-blooded monster.” 

Trump also used his speech to talk up his tariffs, boasted of his accomplishments and mock his predecessor, Joe Biden. 

He invited Erika Kirk back on stage at the end of the service, with the two exchanging a long hug as the music surged.

The memorial drew tens of thousands of mourners, including numerous senior figures in the Trump administration and conservative celebrities.

President Donald Trump called Charlie Kirk a “martyr for American freedom” as the memorial ceremony to commemorate the political activist wrapped up.

“Less than two weeks ago our country was robbed of one of the brightest lights of our times,” Trump told the crowd. “A giant of his generation and above all a devoted husband, father, son, Christian and patriot.”

“He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose,” Trump said.  

“He’s a martyr now for American freedom.”

Trump repeated that he would award Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal.

Prominent speakers are paying tribute to Charlie Kirk, calling the right-wing activist a “martyr” whose work they must now advance.

“For Charlie, we will remember that it is better to stand on our feet defending the United States of America and defending the truth than it is to die on our knees,” US Vice President JD Vance said. 

“My friends, for Charlie, we must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America. And he is a martyr for the Christian faith.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that Kirk’s voice “inspired a movement.” 

His Turning Point USA movement told young Americans that the “highest calling [was] to be in a successful marriage and raise productive children,” Rubio said. 

“It also taught them that ours was not a great country, but the greatest most exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of mankind.”

“He slayed ignorance,” said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. “He cut through lies.”  

An influential ally of US President Donald Trump, Kirk also attracted criticism because of his statements that some called racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant and transphobic.

FBI director Kash Patel has said the agency is looking at “every facet” of Charlie Kirk’s killing.

In a post on X shortly before the memorial started, Patel said the FBI were investigating “theories and questions.” 

These include “the location from where the shot was taken, the possibility of accomplices, the text message confession and related conversations, Discord chats, the angle of the shot and bullet impact, how the weapon was transported, hand gestures observed as potential ‘signals’ near Charlie at the time of his assassination, and visitors to the alleged shooter’s residence in the hours and days leading up to September 10, 2025.”

Patel it wasn’t possible to release every piece of information to the public at the moment in order to protect the investigation. 

A 22-year old suspect was charged last week with murder, and prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty. 

A memorial service for the murdered right-wing influencer, Charlie Kirk, is underway at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. DW’s Ines Pohl spoke with mourners gathering for the emotionally and politically charged event.

The Charlie Kirk memorial is about to begin with US President Donald Trump set to address tens of thousands of those in attendance.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead on a Utah campus on September 10.

The memorial service for Kirk has attracted tens of thousands of mourners, among them Vice President JD Vance and senior White House officials.

Vance will speak at the event, as will Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“We’re going to celebrate the life of a great man today,” said Trump as he left the White House en route to Arizona.

The event is being held amid heightened security measures, with attendees reportedly being subjected to airport-style checks as they filed into the venue.

The US is on a “path to a dictatorship,”  Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

The New York Senator’s remarks come a day after Donald Trump called for the Justice Department to take action against US president’s foes.

Trump had urged the Justice Department on Saturday to take action against his perceived enemies.

Schumer told CNN that turning the agency “into an instrument that goes after his enemies, whether they’re guilty or not… is a real threat to democracy.”

Earlier this week, Trump suggested the licenses of TV networks that criticize him should be revoked. 

A group of American lawmakers told China’s Premier Li Qiang that both sides need to do more to “break the ice” during a rare visit to Beijing.

Delegation leader Adam Smith, a Democrat, said that both side were in agreement about the overarching aim of the visit.

“Certainly, trade and economy is on the top of the list … (but also) we’re very focused on our military-to-military conversations,” he said in opening remarks.

The visit marked the first time a delegation from the US House of Representatives has visited China since 2019. In the meantime, high-ranking US officials have made multiple visits to Taiwan, angering Beijing.

“We need more of those types of exchanges, and we are hoping, to your words, that this will break the ice and we will begin to have more of these types of exchanges,” Smith told Li.

Li also welcomed the engagement.

“It is important for our two countries to have more exchanges and cooperation, this is not only good for our two countries but also of great significance to the world,” he said.

US President Donald Trump threatened Afghanistan of consequences if the Taliban-controlled country did not “give Bagram Airbase back.”

“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” the 79-year-old leader wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

The threat came just days after he proposed the idea of taking over the base once again while he was on a visit to the United Kingdom. US had left the base when its troops chaotically pulled out of Bagram in July 2021.

“We’re trying to get it back, by the way, that could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Trump said at a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Responding to a question about sending US troops back to retake Bagram, Trump said, “We won’t talk about that, but we’re talking now to Afghanistan, and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away. And if they don’t do it, you’re going ot find out what I’m going to do.”

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have on several occasions raised concerns of systematic human rights abuses by US forces at Bagram, especially pertaining to detainees in Washington’s “War on Terror.”

US President Donald Trump on Saturday publicly urged the Justice Department to take action against his enemies, a move that critics say have crushed the institution’s autonomy.

In an angry social media post addressing “Pam” (apparently Attorney General Pam Bondi) Trump called out the lack of legal action against California Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats.

“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump said.

After firing Erik Siebert, the federal prosecutor who was overseeing the probe into James on Friday, Trump appointed his former attorney and White House aide Lindsey Halligan as the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

“Pam Bondi is doing a GREAT job as Attorney General of the United States. She is very careful, very smart, loves our Country, but needs a tough prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, like my recommendation, Lindsey Halligan, to get things moving,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, announcing his decision.

The White House said that an agreement is likely to be signed with video platform TikTok in the coming days.

Details about TikTok’s future in the United States “have already been agreed upon,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told US broadcaster Fox on Sunday.

“Now we just need this deal to be signed and that will be happening, I anticipate, in the coming days,” Leavitt said.

TikTok’s operations in the US have come under fire amid concerns about user data that critics of the app claim could be used by the Chinese government to influence public opinion and sway elections.

However, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have rejected this.

Leavitt said that, under the deal, TikTok would be “majority-owned by Americans in the United States. There will be seven seats on the board, that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans.”

“The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” Leavitt continued.

The killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has sent shockwaves through the US political landscape, galvanizing part of President Donald Trump’s base.

Trump vowed to crack down on the “radical left” following Kirk’s death, and also pledged to classify the “Antifa” movement as a terrorist organization.

Kirk, who Trump described as a “martyr for truth,” has also served as a rallying cry for far-right and right-wing populist parties around the world.

Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, blamed the death on the “liberal-progressive left,” declaring, “We must stop the hate-mongering left!”, while Jordan Bardella of France’s far-right National Rally spoke of a “poison that eats at our democratic societies” arising out of the “dehumanising rhetoric of the left.”

Also in the aftermath of the killing, comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was canceled by ABC after he suggested that the shooter may have been part of the “MAGA” Republican movement.

Trump has threatened to revoke broadcast licenses of TV stations he sees as adversarial towards his administration.

Other late-night comics have been particularly critical of the cancellation, with Stephen Colbert, whose own show will be discontinued in May 2026, referring to it as “blatant censorship.”

India on Saturday expressed concern over US President Donald Trump’s new plan to tighten US immigration policy by increasing application fees for H-1B visas that allow tech workers from India to work in the US.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said Saturday that Trump’s plan “was being studied by all concerned, including by Indian industry.”

Skilled talent mobility and exchanges have contributed enormously to both the US and India, the statement said.

“Policy makers will therefore assess recent steps taking into account mutual benefits, which include strong people-to-people ties between the two countries,” it said.

The ministry warned that “this measure is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families. Government hopes that these disruptions can be addressed suitably by the US authorities.”

Charlie Kirk was 31 years old when he was shot dead earlier this month. Here’s what to know about his life and politics, as thousands of people prepare to gather to pay their respects at his memorial service.