The President of the United States, Donald Trump , assured this Friday “ with a high degree of certainty ” that the alleged murderer of the ultraconservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead on a university campus in Utah last Wednesday, has been arrested.

“We have the person we believe we are looking for. Everyone did an excellent job. We worked with local law enforcement and the governor” of Utah, the president said in a live interview with Fox News from New York.

Trump added that he learned of the arrest “five minutes before entering” the set of “Fox and Friends” and said, without elaborating, that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies would provide more information later in the day.

“Someone very close to him turned him in,” Trump explained very briefly, indicating that it was apparently the father himself and people “close” to the alleged shooter who requested that he turn himself in to authorities after law enforcement agencies released several images and a video showing a white man wearing dark pants, a sweatshirt and cap, and wearing sunglasses.

“It was a parent who got involved, specifically his father, and said, ‘We need to go’ (to the police). Again, this is subject to change, but you know, the facts are the facts: We have the person who we believe is the person we’re looking for. They drove him to police headquarters, and he’s there,” he said.

The FBI and several government agencies launched a widespread search for the suspect almost immediately after Kirk, a close Trump ally, was shot and killed as he debated in front of about 3,000 people on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

After arresting and releasing two suspects, the FBI asked the public for help and even announced a $100,000 reward for truthful information leading to their capture.

Trump insisted he didn't want to watch the video, which clearly shows the moment Kirk was killed."I don't want to remember Charlie that way. It's horrible, from what I heard," he said.

“Against violence”

Kirk was struck in the neck while debating students on campus as part of a “Prove Me Wrong” tour.

Founder of a youth organization, Turning Point, Kirk was key in the last Republican election campaign, but his activism had begun years earlier, regularly attending universities and high schools to debate and try to convince young people of his right-wing, nationalist and Christian creed.

The weapon allegedly used in the attack was found in a wooded area believed to be the man's escape route.

Trump had initially blamed the left for the crime.

“He advocated against violence. That’s how I want people to respond,” the president said of Kirk’s killing.

When asked by a reporter about a possible motive for the crime, Trump simply replied: “ I have a lead, yes, but I’ll tell you more later.”

Kirk's body was flown Thursday to Phoenix, Arizona, on Vice President JD Vance's plane, who helped carry the casket.

The widow, Erika Kirk, was also on board the aircraft.

“The political climate has changed”

The crime was condemned by both sides of the political spectrum, in a rare show of consensus in the extremely polarized American public opinion.

However, some confrontational messages proliferated on social media.

Kirk was shot just as he was answering a young man's questions about shootings in the United States.

Trump was the one who officially announced Kirk's death, and he will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

A father of two and passionate debater, Kirk had a huge audience on social media.

“He really changed the political climate on American campuses, leading young people to look at conservative ideas differently,” said Dave Sanchez, who was at the Wednesday event where the attack took place.

The crime shocked the country, which has seen political violence escalate in recent years. Numerous vigils and prayer services were held at universities and public squares across the United States.

Trump himself was the victim of two assassination attempts during the 2024 election campaign.

This year, Democratic Congresswoman Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home was burned down.

In 2022, a man traveled from California to the home of one of Trump's conservative Supreme Court justices, Brett Kavanaugh, intending to assassinate him. He later surrendered to police.