United States | Political violence

Donald Trump survives an assassination attempt

The shooting is a dark turn in an already chaotic presidential campaign

Donald Trump Holds A Campaign Rally In Butler, Pennsylvania
Photograph: Getty Images
|Washington, DC

JUST SIX MINUTES after Donald Trump began speaking to a crowd of supporters in Butler County, Pennsylvania, a pop was heard. Mr Trump’s hand immediately went to his right ear. More pops followed. Mr Trump ducked; his Secret Service protective detail jumped on top of him. The crowd began to scream. One minute later, his agents and police began shouting “shooter’s down” and “we’re clear” to one another. They lifted Mr Trump up, surrounding him. He paused, then raised his fist defiantly into the air several times before his bodyguards rushed him out.

“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and I immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” Mr Trump recounted hours later on his social-media site. “Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening.” Mr Trump said nothing further about his injuries but his campaign and President Joe Biden said he was not seriously harmed.

Explore more

More from United States

The demise of an iconic American highway

California’s Highway 1 is showing the limits of man’s ingenuity

How the election will shape the Supreme Court

A second Trump administration could lock in a conservative supermajority for decades


Could the Kamala Harris boost put Florida in play for Democrats?

Some party enthusiasts think so, but realists see re-energised campaigning there as a savvy Florida feint


America is not ready for a major war, says a bipartisan commission

The country is unaware of the dangers ahead, and of the costs to prepare for them

The southern border is Kamala Harris’s biggest political liability

What does her record reveal about her immigration policy?