Trigger Warning: Mentions details about an assassination.
President Donald Trump briefly revisited his Apprentice persona during a surprising moment involving his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest over the weekend.
TPUSA was founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012 when he was 18. After his assassination on September 10, 2025, in Utah, his wife Erika took over as the CEO of the organization as of September 18, 2025.
AmericaFest is a four-day event in Phoenix featuring prominent conservative figures, including Vice President JD Vance, Don Jr, Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro. It was organized to celebrate the late conservative leader Charlie Kirk’s life and honor his legacy.
While appearing on stage, Trump Jr. called his father and placed him on speakerphone for the audience. Introducing the call, he said he wanted to give Donald Trump a chance to greet the attendees.
According to Huffpost, the 79-year-old told the crowd he wished he could be there in person and promised to join them soon. He went on to praise the late Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, calling the audience “the greatest people on Earth.” Later, he also took a jab at Donald Trump Jr.’s public presence.
“I hope my son’s doing a good job representing me; otherwise, I’ll have to say, ‘You’re fired, Don. You’re fired,” Trump said. “So thank you very much and have a great day,” he added.
Trump on Speaker Phone: I hope my son is doing a good job representing me otherwise I will have to say: you’re fired. pic.twitter.com/r8DpSWwfwW
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 21, 2025
Donald Trump also made sure to tell the crowd that his eldest son, who is nearly as popular as him, should be delivering an impactful speech or else he would “give him hell” if he didn’t.
The jab was met with a series of mixed reactions from the crowd as they seemed “visibly awkward”, and Don Jr.’s expression circulated over social media.
The Trump family has been one of the most popular political families in the spotlight ever since his first term began in 2016, and every detail regarding them is often extensively covered by the media.
Meanwhile, the AmericaFest featured several other awkward moments throughout the conference. One of the most talked-about moments occurred during a sit-down discussion between rapper Nicki Minaj and former pageant winner Erika Kirk.
WATCH — @NICKIMINAJ refers to JD Vance as an “assassin” when talking about what great role models and how handsome he and Trump are 🙃… then realizes she’s on stage with Erika Kirk, who tries to save her 😬 pic.twitter.com/4zmeZ3fgg0
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) December 21, 2025
While praising conservative leaders, Minaj, who is known for her free, frank, and bold nature, informally addressed JD Vance and “covered her mouth in embarrassment”.
“Young men, you have amazing role models like our handsome dashing president,” Minaj said. “And you have amazing role models like the assassin JD Vance, our vice president.” Erika Kirk handled the moment with utmost grace as she told the rapper that “there’s nothing new under the sun” that she hasn’t heard.
Erika Kirk also had her fair share of awkward moments as she made a verbal slip-up while presenting the Charlie Kirk Courage Award to Utah Valley University student Caleb Chilcutt. Kirk said, “Despite the devastating loss of Charlie Kirk, my incredible husband, Caleb has persisted with the same grift, gift, grit… it has been a long day.”
She quickly attempted to recover, adding, “Trust me, you’re not a grifter, honey. It’s all good.” Netizens immediately took to X and had a series of hilarious mixed reactions to it.
I have spent the past four days at #amfest2025 , the first TPUSA conference after Charlie Kirks murder in September. The fracturing of Trump‘s
movement was on full display there – as was its strength.
Here‘s my report:
(Photography: Ethan Noah Roy)https://t.co/CEgDfdK1by pic.twitter.com/v36ZZnUe95
— Anna Sauerbrey (@annakatrein) December 22, 2025
As per The Washington Post, AmericaFest also displayed the microphone Charlie Kirk was holding when he was killed onstage while answering a question in a glass case under a spotlight. T-shirts matching the one he wore that day, featuring the word “FREEDOM” in bold lettering, were being sold in four colors for $35 each.
