Vice President JD Vance, along with second lady Usha Vance, traveled Thursday to Utah to pay respects to the family of Charlie Kirk the day after the conservative commentator and political organizer was gunned down during a speaking event at Utah Valley University.
Ahead of Vance’s visit, a source familiar with the vice president’s plans — who was not authorized to speak on the record — said Kirk’s casket was set to be flown on Air Force Two from Utah to Arizona, where Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, is headquartered.
“Charlie Kirk was a true friend,” Vance wrote in a long social media post Wednesday discussing his friendship with Kirk. “The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him.”
Vance said the pair became friends after Kirk sent him a message complimenting an appearance he made on Fox News. “That moment of kindness began a friendship that lasted until today,” the vice president wrote.
Vance also said that Kirk had advocated for him as President Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, adding that the conservative commentator had been a fountain of support to him and his family once he took the job.
In public appearances, Kirk often said he hoped Vance — previously a senator representing Ohio — would be elected the next president.
Vance had originally been scheduled to visit New York on Thursday in remembrance of the 9/11 terror attacks. He did not make any public appearances during his visit to Utah.
In an appearance Thursday at the Pentagon for a 9/11 memorial, Trump announced that he plans to posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Lt. Col. Christopher Kroeber, a spokesperson for the Utah National Guard, confirmed Thursday morning that Vance was set to arrive at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base, just east of Salt Lake City International Airport. Senior administration officials typically land at the Guard’s base when visiting Utah.
There, the vice president met privately with Kirk’s family on the base.
Kroeber noted earlier Thursday that the Guard planned to close the entire base for Vance’s arrival — a measure not typically taken when it hosts top White House officials.
Late Wednesday night, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a NOTAM for “temporary flight restrictions for VIP movement.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Air Force 2 carrying Vice President JD Vance lands at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.
NOTAMs — or a Notice to Airmen, formally known as a Notice to Air Missions — are used by the FAA to update pilots and crews about changes in the national airspace.
From 1:30 to 3:45 p.m. Thursday, “no pilots may operate an aircraft” in a 5-mile radius, from the ground to 4,999 feet above, near the Salt Lake City International airport, the FAA warned.
A similar airspace closure, according to the FAA, was scheduled for Phoenix on Thursday afternoon.
When he first heard about the shooting, Vance said in his post, he “prayed a lot over the next hour, as first good news and then bad trickled in.”
“God didn’t answer those prayers, and that’s OK,” the vice president added. “He had other plans.”