A forthcoming book by New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan claims that Barron Trump, the youngest son of President Donald Trump, alerted his father to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in a panicked phone call last September.
Barron's panicked call to his father
According to Regime Change: Inside The Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Barron bypassed White House aides to call Trump directly, fearing that his father's life could also be in danger. The book describes the 20-year-old as being in a 'state of distress' and a 'state of panic' as he relayed the news that Kirk had been shot.
Trump reportedly tried to calm his son, saying, 'Calm down honey, calm down,' though the president himself was 'plainly unnerved,' having survived a previous assassination attempt in 2024.
Details of the shooting
Kirk, a 33-year-old right-wing influencer, was fatally shot in front of a crowd of 3,000 students at Utah Valley University on September 30, 2025. Tyler James Robinson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
The book claims that Trump had previously warned Kirk that his open-air college campus events could make him a target of political violence. Recalling Kirk's help with the youth vote in the 2024 election, Trump said, 'Man, Charlie. He’s such a good guy. He really helped me out in 2024. He got the youth vote.'
Contradicting other accounts
The claim that Barron was the first to inform Trump contradicts earlier reports that Vice President JD Vance broke the news to the president in the Oval Office. Some sources suggest that Barron alerted Trump to the shooting, while Vance later confirmed Kirk's death.
Barron's growing influence
The 6-foot-9-inch NYU student has also made headlines for his role in the Trump family's cryptocurrency ventures. In 2024, Barron was listed as a co-founder of World Liberty Foundation alongside his father and brothers. Following Trump's election win, the family's crypto holdings added an estimated $1.5 billion to their fortune, according to Forbes.
Trump has since embraced cryptocurrency, launching his own meme coin, $TRUMP, which surged to a market cap of over $6.3 billion within 12 hours of its release. This marks a stark reversal from his 2021 stance, when he called Bitcoin 'a scam.'
