President Donald Trump deemed the Medal of Freedom ceremony honoring Charlie Kirk a “non-negotiable” item on his busy agenda this week, which included a trip to the Middle East.
Trump left Washington on Sunday evening to fly to Israel and Egypt for a rapid diplomatic trip following the ceasefire deal between Israel and Gaza, based on his 20-point peace plan. Trump returned early in the morning on Tuesday to make sure he was back in time to posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Kirk on what would have been his 32nd birthday.
“We were gone for, I think it was 36 total hours. When I got home at 3:30 in the morning, my husband said, ‘I can’t believe you just went all the way to Africa and back in like one day.’ But we did it for Charlie, and I’m so glad we did,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
White House officials hoped they would not have to delay the preplanned ceremony for Kirk when Trump set off for the Middle East on Sunday, Leavitt said on the Charlie Kirk Show on Wednesday.
“The President said it was a non-negotiable for him, and I think that really speaks to how much he loved and respected Charlie,” Leavitt said. “There are very few people in this world that the president would really cut a trip short [for], because there was much more we could have done.”
TRUMP GIVES CHARLIE KIRK ‘BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT’ WITH MEDAL OF FREEDOM AWARD, ERIKA KIRK SAYS
Trump said during the ceremony that he “raced back halfway around the globe” to be there for the Rose Garden medal presentation.
“Only hours ago, I returned from a very historic trip to secure peace in the Middle East,” Trump said. “I would not have missed this moment for anything in the world.”