About

Donald Trump and Erika Kirk Romance Theory refers to an online conspiracy theory about U.S. President Donald Trump being romantically involved with, or set to be involved with, Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk. After the shooting of her husband in mid-September 2025, Erika Kirk appeared at the memorial service for her late husband, sponsored by Turning Point USA, in Arizona. President Trump spoke at the event. He was filmed and photographed embracing her while she cried. The images spread online in viral posts on Twitter / X and elsewhere from users who likened Trump's consolation to flirting or romantic involvement. One notable post captioned an image of Trump pointing upwards with her crying on his shoulder, "I got your bitch with me." The jokes later evolved into the conspiracy theory, notably when users unearthed Erika Kirk's history as a Miss USA beauty pageant contestant, a Trump-sponsored competition, in 2012. Kirk won Miss Arizona USA that year, and a photo of her in a bikini on a red carpet with the Trump logo behind her spread alongside the photos of her hugging the President in late September 2025.

Origin

On September 10th, 2025, right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at a Turning Point USA event held at Utah Valley University (UVU).^[1] The event sparked internet discourse and memes in its wake.

On September 12th, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson from Utah was detained by authorities as the case's prime suspect.^[2]

On September 21st, 2025, a memorial service for Charlie Kirk was held in Arizona at the State Farm Stadium near Phoenix. U.S. President Donald Trump was the keynote speaker, along with Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk.^[3] A clip of Erika Kirk walking out on stage went viral on X^[4] that same day.

Erika Kirk has taken the stage.

pic.twitter.com/TBX05VXgR9

— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) September 21, 2025

On September 22nd, TikToker^[5] @literally_lyd shared a video reacting to a moment when President Trump seemingly smiled while embracing a crying Erika Kirk. The video received over 857,000 likes in two days.

Spread

On September 22nd, 2025, X^[6] user @ThomsonSherin reposted TikToker^[5] @literally_lyd's video, gaining over 76,000 likes in two days.

Later on September 22nd, X^[7] user @eldissula tweeted a photo of President Trump pointing up at the sky with Erika Kirk crying on his shoulder. The tweet read, "I got your bitch with me," gaining over 233,000 likes in two days.

On September 23rd, X^[8] user @Imaddictedtoket replied to the abovementioned tweet, writing, "F*ck dat hoe for me 47 🖤," gaining over 20,000 likes in a day.

Later on that same day, X^[9] user @best_mane5 tweeted a screenshot of @Imaddictedtoket's reply, gaining over 75,000 likes in a day.

On September 22nd, 2025, X^[10] user @Out5p0ken tweeted four images, captioned, "Oh." The first showed Erika Kirk before her marriage, when she was named Erika Frantzve, at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, for a Miss USA event. She had been named Miss Arizona USA at the time.^[12]

The second image was a Google search results screenshot that showed info from the Wikipedia ^[13] page about Charlie Kirk, citing the Independent's^[14] reporting that Kirk's father, Robert W. Kirk, was involved in the construction of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Over two days, the tweet received over 150,000 likes.

X^[11] user @Out5p0ken added a reply to the tweet later that day, including more info about Erika Kirk's beauty pageant and modeling history.

On September 22nd, 2025, TikToker^[16] @dodge0ntiktok shared a video that compared Donald Trump's expression while consoling Erika Trump to a Will Ferrell scene in the movie Wedding Crashers, during which he attempts to pick up widows or other women by exploiting their grief.^[17] Over two days, the video received over 34,900 likes.

Later on that same day, Redditor punish_the_monkey reposted the abovementioned video to the /r/JoeRogan^[15] subreddit, gaining over 19,000 upvotes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References