The gunshots heard around the nation at Donald Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally will be etched in history forever. And now, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal inside details of the chaos before, during, and after the scene that may have propelled the president to his landslide victory just four months later.
In Alex Isenstadt’s new book, Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, Isenstadt provides a backstage look into how Trump, 78, and the team around him rallied during the shocking campaign moment last year. On July 13, 2024, the MAGA leader narrowly escaped an assassination attempt as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired eight rounds from an AR-15-style rifle – hitting Trump in the upper right ear. The Secret Service quickly neutralized Crooks, but not before the gunfire claimed the life of attendee Corey Comperatore and injured two others.
As panic erupted, Trump ducked behind the podium while Secret Service agents shielded him, and one agent, Sean Curran, threw himself onto Trump to protect him. Isenstadt explained: “It was chaos. Rally-goers behind Trump – some of whom just moments before were holding placards reading ‘Joe Biden: You’re Fired!’ – cowered. The agents were talking to one another, trying to figure out what was next.”
The journalist went on to describe the following moments, including how the agents lifted Trump up and formed a circle around him. But despite having just been shot, Trump’s priority was his footwear. He told them: “Let me get my shoes.” The author explained: “Trump’s shoes had slipped off during the maelstrom. The former president had as of late been wearing shoes made by the Swiss manufacturer Bally. While the shoes were designed to be tied on, Trump had turned them into slip-ons. Trump appeared to search for them, and then stood up, looking as if he were in shock.”
Moments later, Trump notoriously pumped his fist three times and exclaimed: “Fight, fight, fight!”
But it was in the moments when the 47th president was escorted away – after the cameras stopped rolling – that Isenstadt provided a shocking glimpse into the historic scene. He explained: “The detail guided Trump offstage, his typically immaculately sprayed gold hair out of place and his bloodied MAGA hat in hand. Descending the stairs, he wrapped his arms around an agent to his right. The loyal Curran was on his left. Once they got to the bottom, it took the agents another twenty seconds to get Trump into his SUV. Before getting in, he raised his arm once more.”
The scenario at Butler Memorial Hospital was just as intense, with Isenstadt revealing Trump’s team headed straight for the emergency room and the building went into lockdown the moment he arrived. He wrote: “After pulling up to the hospital, Wiles, Cheung, Scavino, and Nauta headed for the emergency room. The building was going into lockdown. Secret Service agents had their long guns out; nurses were wheeling patients out of units so they could create a secure wing for Trump.”
Isenstadt continued to describe the scene, highlighting how the president was placed on a stretcher and had his bloody clothes removed. He said: “Hospital workers then stretchered the former president through the emergency room doors. Trump’s bloody hat, suit jacket, and white collared shirt were off; he was only in an undershirt and suit pants. His shoes, in the end, had been left onstage; they would be retrieved by a production worker and brought to the hospital later in the evening.”
It was then Trump predicted the future when he told his team: “This is going to make some news,” the author wrote. He then explained how Trump was taken into a separate room, during which the Secret Service checked on the lieutenants to ensure they weren’t injured.
As phones flooded with texts and calls, media outlets scrambled for interviews and information. One outlet falsely claimed Trump had died, prompting his team to quickly draft and send a statement declaring Trump was “fine.” Meanwhile, the now-president was wheeled out for a CT scan to check for a concussion, which came back clear, and he requested the records.
Trump asked a nurse: “Can you give me a copy of these? Because I want to make sure I can show reporters that my cognitive function is 100 percent. You can’t say the same about Joe Biden.” The nurse responded: “We can put it on a CD for you,” to which Trump said he’d “release at a later date.” Trump also requested to see photos from the attack, including one showing a bullet near his head and another of him bloodied but raising his fist defiantly with the American flag behind him.
According to Isenstaft, he then exclaimed: “Wow, that’s iconic. That’s the most American picture I’ve ever seen.” Before being discharged, the author explained how Trump was handed back his bloodied clothes, joking: “This is going into the museum.”
Despite the injury, Trump did not require extensive medical treatment and was discharged from the hospital shortly after the incident. The Republican, who won the U.S. Presidential Election against Dem. candidate Kamala Harris in November, later commented how his ear “still throbs” following the assassination attempt.
