Charlie Kirk Teenage activist who became Trump enabler

What a swell party it was. Guests feasted on half-shell oysters and champagne at Washington's luxury Salamander hotel. Donald Trump Jr danced to YMCA while JD Vance quipped: "They don't tell you when you run for vice-president that you get brought on stage with the Village People."

- David Smith Washington

There were many influential guests at the $15,000-a-head (£11,000) Turning Point Inaugural Eve ball in January, but towering above them all was Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA.

Kirk, a 31-year-old rightwing activist, podcaster and provocateur, was shot dead on Wednesday as he gave a talk at a Utah university. For the Trumps, it was like a death in the family - Don Jr wrote on X: "I love you brother."

The shock, grief and anger of Trump and his allies reflected not only their personal closeness to Kirk but his political utility to the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement and role in vetting who would staff Trump's government.

It also raised fears that, in a moment when cool heads were needed, the president's response to the killing was just as likely to be shaped by highly charged emotions and calls for vengeance.

Kirk was 18 when he launched the grassroots organisation Turning Point USA in 2012, later admitting he had "no money, no connections and no idea what I was doing".

His rhetorical gift for provocative statements, inflaming cultural tensions and "owning the libs" galvanised conservative students during the Barack Obama years.

He held mass rallies that drew tens of thousands of young voters each year to hear conservative leaders speaking on glitzy stages backed by ear-splitting anthems.

He was the right man at the right time to pour rocket fuel on Trump's Maga movement. In the summer of 2016 he secured a meeting at Trump Tower and gave Don Jr advice on how his father could woo young voters. Don Jr was so impressed that he instantly hired Kirk as his personal campaign assistant for fundraising trips across the country.