Today is Monday, July 13, 2026, the second anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on President Donald Trump during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
As he was delivering his remarks, shots were fired and Trump instinctively reached up to touch his ear that, unbeknownst to him at the moment, had been grazed by a bullet. Members of the U.S. Secret Service rushed onto the stage, shielded the president, and rushed him offstage as the crowd tried to take cover in the chaos.
People were screaming and as the agents lifted President Trump to his feet, he raised his fist in the air and yelled, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” The audience also got to their feet and began chanting, “USA! USA! USA!”
The president’s ear was bloodied during the shooting, and his narrow escape from death has been called a miracle.
During an interview Monday on Fox News, Trump, who went on to beat former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) and retake the White House in 2024, said, “God was with me. I turned my head to show a chart, a chart that I never show in the right-hand side, but this time I did… If I had looked to the left I wouldn’t be talking to you right now.”
When the bullet grazed his ear, Trump recalled, “I said ‘Wow, what was that?’ I said ‘It’s either the biggest, most violent mosquito in history, or I just got shot.’”
Breitbart News noted that he avoided death by mere centimeters.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks whom Secret Service members shot dead at the scene.
The outlet also said, “Corey Comperatore, a husband, father, and Pennsylvania firefighter, was killed as he was trying to shield his wife and daughter after Crooks opened fire. Two other men, James Cophenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, were also injured as a result of the assassination attempt on Trump.”
On Monday, social media users marked the two-year anniversary saying the president showed “remarkable resilience” and acknowledging that God put his hand on him in that moment, preserving his life.
President Trump returned to Butler a few months after the assassination attempt, telling the crowd, “I’ve never stopped fighting for you, and I never will.”
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