President Donald Trump reflected on the one-year anniversary of his near assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying "God alone" spared his life that day.
Trump issued a press release late Sunday evening recalling the tragedy last July.
The President was the target at the Butler campaign rally where he was shot and wounded. The assassin's bullet would strike Trump's ear, leaving him bloodied.
Corey Comperatore, a retired volunteer fire chief, was killed in the assassination attempt as he protected his wife and daughter, and two other men were seriously injured.
Trump lauded Comperatore as a "devoted husband and father" in the press release, then reflected a bit on his own mortality, stating that a higher being saved him for a higher purpose.
"It remains my firm conviction that God alone saved me that day for a righteous purpose: to restore our beloved Republic to greatness and to rescue our Nation from those who seek its ruin," the release reads.
Presidential Message on the Anniversary of the Tragedy in Butler, Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/5DhdQjBknj
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) July 13, 2025
Trump Attempted Assassination Photos, Including One Showing a Streaking Bullet, Win Pulitzer Prize
President Trump expanded on the thoughts in deeply reflective comments while speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews. It seems clear that the President views himself as a vessel to help lead the one true nation "under God."
A servant of the One to make America great once again.
"God was protecting me," he said. "Maybe because God wanted to see our country do better, or do really well, Make America Great Again. But God was protecting me."
"The more you think about it, the more you see it."
Trump went on to suggest he doesn't like thinking about the assassination attempt itself, noting that "it's a little bit of a dangerous profession, being President."
This isn't the first time President Trump has affirmed his belief that God saved him on that fateful day in Butler.
"Honestly, it's a mir (miracle) — It changed, it changed something in me," he said in a hushed tone at the National Prayer Breakfast in February. "I feel even stronger."
"I believed in God, but I feel — I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened," he added as the crowd gave him a rousing ovation.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "[Butler] changed something in me... I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it." pic.twitter.com/1c7dSassJe
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 6, 2025
The assassination attempt in Butler turned out to be one of the most iconic moments in the history of this nation. That isn't overselling.
While tales of heroism and defiance in the face of threats against one's life scatter the historical landscape of America, very few have been witnessed in real-time as they were one year ago today.
The assassin's bullet struck Trump's ear, coming just centimeters from taking him out and very likely plunging a profoundly divided nation into civil conflict.
The soon-to-be president dusted himself off, blood pouring down the side of his face, and demanded that the American people keep fighting for the nation they love so dearly.
It led to an image that will be etched into the collective memory of this nation for decades to come.
One turn of the head and history could have been radically different
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) November 5, 2024
I don’t know what happens in the timeline where a deranged assassin splatters Trump’s brain on live television, I don’t want to know
Providence spared this man and our country for a reason
Fight pic.twitter.com/0SDlcR4GcU
Just a couple of months ago, a series of haunting images of the attempted assassination resulted in a New York Times photographer being awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
Even the Pulitzer board could not ignore the drama of the moment.
"When the agents began evacuating the wounded Trump offstage to safety, he briefly stopped them and insisted on gesturing to the crowd of supporters," the Pulitzer Prize site reads. "Raising his fist, he defiantly shouted, 'Fight! Fight! Fight!'"
"It was a moment of instinct that would later be capitalized on by his campaign and embraced by his supporters."
In reality, it was a moment that saved the nation.
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