BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA: It’s been nearly a year since that jaw-dropping moment in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a would-be assassin took aim at then-candidate Donald Trump.
In an excerpt from the upcoming book ‘2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,’ obtained by The Washington Post, Trump opened up about what really went on behind the scenes after the attempt on his life.
Donald Trump details hospital moments after assassination attempt in new book
Donald Trump had just taken the stage at a campaign rally on July 13 when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from the rooftop of a building roughly 100 yards away. Secret Service agents immediately tackled Trump to the ground and rushed him to the hospital.
“Trump was sitting up in bed, still wearing his suit. A bandage covered his ear. There was blood everywhere,” the book reveals.
“It was bleeding like a b****,” he told the authors in a later interview. The bleeding was so intense that even his closest aides feared he’d been shot multiple times.
“They thought I had four or five bullets in me because there was so much blood,” he said, referring to his inner circle, future White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, future Communications Head Steven Cheung, and future Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
But it wasn’t long before the jokes started flying. The three soon realized Trump was alright “because he started making jokes” in his hospital bed, the book adds.
How a near-fatal shooting became the defining moment of Donald Trump’s 2024 comeback
Fox Nation’s recent docu-special, ‘Art of the Surge: The Donald Trump Comeback,’ brought renewed attention to the dramatic moment with never-before-seen drone footage of the rally and the Secret Service’s frantic response.
Trump reflected on just how close he came to death that day. “130 yards is like sinking a one-foot putt,” he told the outlet, referring to the sniper’s distance. “It’s considered really close.”
But it wasn’t just a brush with death, it was the turning point of his 2024 campaign.
Suddenly, Trump wasn’t just a candidate, he was a survivor. Even some of his most unlikely former critics came forward. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, two of Trump’s most vocal Silicon Valley adversaries, changed their tune after witnessing him take a bullet and live to pump his fist moments later.
“Bezos said Trump’s instincts showed who he was, and he wanted them to have a friendship,” the book notes. Susie Wiles herself was floored. “Before, some of these people wouldn’t give him the time of day. Trump loved it. He was having a great time,” she said.
Zuckerberg was starstruck. The Facebook founder said that seeing Trump “pump his fist in the air” after getting shot was “one of the most badass things” he’d seen in his life.
That same day, Elon Musk made his stance clear. “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Joe Biden reaches out, Melania Trump hugs Donald Trump following shooting incident
Trump even had a brief, civil phone call with then-President Joe Biden, who was still recovering from a bruising debate performance just weeks earlier.
“The exchange was awkward after their tense debate just two weeks earlier,” the book recounts. “The call was brief. But Trump described it as ‘very nice, actually.’”
After getting patched up, Trump was discharged and flown to his Bedminster, New Jersey estate, where Melania Trump was waiting to greet her battle-scarred husband.
‘2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America’ officially drops July 8.
