Trump announces he will posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk is seen onstage at the Fiserv Forum during preparations for the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, at a memorial event at the Pentagon on Thursday on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, announced he will posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, was shot during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Trump later that day announced his death.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” Trump said on Thursday.
“We miss him greatly, yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and courage put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on,” the president continued.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the U.S. Trump said that the day of that ceremony would be announced soon, adding he thought it would surely draw a big crowd.
A manhunt for Kirk’s killer is underway. The FBI said on Thursday it has recovered what is believed to be the weapon used by the shooter, and officials said the suspect is believed to be a college-aged individual.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare options for the possible use of U.S. military force against drug cartels designated as terrorist organizations, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News on Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The White House is visited by tourists on July 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration will suspend public White House tours due to the construction that is scheduled to start soon on a new ballroom, multiple congressional offices told ABC News.
Spokespeople or the official websites for several of these members say they were told by the White House that the pause on these tours will start in September and tours could be postponed “indefinitely.”
Offices gave various reasons for the pause on tours, including “construction projects,” “extensive renovations” and “because of construction on the new White House ballroom.”
All tours of the White House are scheduled through a visitor’s representative or senator. About 10,000 people toured the White House each week during the Biden administration.
ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment. The Visit the White House page on the White House website doesn’t mention tours being paused, but greets visitors with an “Announcement Regarding Upcoming Expansion” about the ballroom project, which it says will begin in September.
The website for Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., reads: “Unfortunately, the Trump administration recently announced that it would pause all public tours of the White House beginning in September to accommodate construction projects. We apologize for any inconvenience to those who have submitted tour requests for this period, and will share further updates as soon as additional guidance is available.”
The website for Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., says: “Beginning on September 1st, 2025, the White House will be undergoing extensive renovations. As a result, all tours of the White House are postponed indefinitely. To read more information from the White House, please read their official statement. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.”
Other congressional offices said they have received unclear instruction about tours when they’ve asked the administration.
“We haven’t gotten any real guidance from the WH – they haven’t published any new dates and when we’ve inquired they said that “availability has not yet been published as they continue to finalize the president’s schedule,'” one congressional aide said.
Another office said it had reached out to the White House after the Washington Post initially reported that tours would be suspended. Administration officials told their office coordinator that the pause was “because of construction on the new White House ballroom,” an aide said.
Yet another said that they were told White House tours were not immediately barred but rather would halt at the start of September.
A White House liaison “confirmed that we can still book tours through the end of August, but they have cancelled all September tours. They said that they’ll give more info after Labor Day,” an aide told ABC News.
A separate congressional office also said it was waiting for a more “formal announcement from the visitor’s office” about how to move forward with scheduling public East Wing tours.
Another office said its constituents whose September tour was cancelled included “military families who had been approved for tours timed to show their families the White House before they were transferred to new duty stations outside the region.”
“They’re pretty disappointed,” the aide added.
The Trump administration suspended tours for about a month at the start of his second term in January. First lady Melania Trump made the announcement when they reopened in late February.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel, Michelle Stoddart and Caleigh Bartash contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — The Pentagon has announced that 1,350 more federalized members of the California National Guard will be withdrawn from the security mission in Los Angeles that started in early June following protests against immigration raids carried out by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A remaining force of 250 National Guardsmen will remain in place to continue protecting federal government buildings and personnel in Los Angeles.
Close to 5,000 National Guard members and Marines were deployed to Los Angeles on June 7 for a mission that could potentially last up to 60 days, a time limit that ends next week.
“On Wednesday, Secretary Hegseth ordered the release of approximately 1,350 California National Guardsmen from the federal protection mission,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement provided to ABC News.
“Approximately 250 California National Guardsmen remain in Los Angeles to protect federal personnel and property,” Parnell said. “We greatly appreciate the support of the more than 5,000 Guardsmen and Marines who mobilized to Los Angeles to defend Federal functions against the rampant lawlessness occurring in the city.”
In recent weeks the Pentagon had announced the withdrawals of 2,000 Guard members and 700 Marines, along with the reassignment of 150 Guard members to firefighting duty.
The initial mobilization came in the wake of protests following ICE raids in Los Angeles and was unusual in that they were ordered by the Trump administration instead of by Gov. Gavin Newsom. City officials labeled the deployment of the Guard and Marines as unnecessary and said that Los Angeles Police Department was more than capable of responding to the initial protests.
Because they were federalized National Guard and Marines, they were not able to carry out law enforcement duties, which is prohibited by law. However, during their mission to protect federal buildings and personnel, the mobilized military personnel had the authority to temporarily detain individuals before quickly transferring them to law enforcement personnel.
As the mission continued, some of the forces received training to accompany ICE personnel on immigration raids, though their role was specifically limited to providing force protection.
