The Donald Trump campaign said it has “full confidence” in the Secret Service as the former president heads to his first outdoor rally Friday since the failed assassination attempt — but campaign staffers still pray for his safety.
“We say our prayers every day. But I think the Secret Service is being really smart and careful,” a Trump official told The Post Thursday in a reporter gaggle in West Palm Beach.
The Trump family in a moment of prayer before speeches at the RNC convention. Tamara BeckwithTrump is heading to Bozeman, Montana, to campaign Friday evening. Although the state is not critical battleground territory, his team said he wants to support Republican candidates in tight races. Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy is head to head with Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
The 45th president was shot in the ear — with the gunman barely missing his head — on July 13 in Butler, Pa. The gunman, 20-year-old Matthew Crooks, was perched on a nearby rooftop and shot at the crowd, hitting Trump, killing firefighter Corey Comparatore and injuring rally attendees David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
The Trump official said they didn’t think Trump was suffering from PTSD after the shooting.
Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents as he leaves the stage at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. AP
Trump is covered by Secret Service agents on stage at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. AP“I think he feels very badly and has worked hard to honor the people that were hurt and the firefighter that died,” the Trump adviser said. “As far as he’s concerned, I think he feels lucky and blessed.”
The former president wore a white bandage over his ear in the weeks after the shooting, but has recently taken it off and has no visible injury.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump attend a prayer vigil near the venue for the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 14. REUTERS
Trump points to his ear, where the bullet of an attempted assassin struck him after a reporter asked about his ear during a press conference. Getty ImagesThe Post asked Trump about his ear at his Thursday press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
He said he was “pretty much recovered” and that he’s a “fast healer,” despite it being a “helluva shot.”
The former president added that he doesn’t have hearing damage because “it didn’t hit that part” and that he has a “little bit” of scarring “on top” of the ear where the bullet grazed him.
