Donald Trump walked away from the Pennsylvania rally shooting by only suffering an injury to the top part of his ear, but the significance of that damage quickly turned into a point of contention. A day after the shooting, the former president spoke about his recovery. “The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump told the New York Post on July 14. At the time, the outlet was forbidden from taking photos of the presidential candidate whose ear was covered by a bandage.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former doctor, painted a gruesome picture of what was underneath that bandage. Jackson looked at the ear after the shooting and described it while on “The Benny Show” on July 15. “And [the bullet] just took the top of his ear off,” Jackson said. “It was bleeding like crazy because the ear is pretty vascular and bleeds pretty badly,” he added. In a separate interview with the Daily Mail, Jackson said Trump did not receive stitches because the top part of the ear was not “amenable” to that treatment. “So they just basically have to kind of, you know, let it heal in,” he told the outlet while mentioning that the wound would be fine over time.
Days later, Trump made his first post-rally shooting appearance at the Republican National Convention with a giant white gauze over his ear. Once that bandage was removed, many were surprised by how Trump’s ear looked.
Donald Trump’s ear appeared undamaged
Just under two weeks after the rally shooting, Donald Trump went out in public without any bandages covering the wound on his ear. On July 26, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and photos captured the one-time POTUS showing his exposed ear to Netanyahu. Images of the exchange were not crystal clear, but Trump did not seem to have any major scarring, and his ear looked basically the same as prior to the shooting. Those snaps were shared on X, formerly Twitter, where several users shared their speculation. “What bullet wound?” one wrote. “Only problem with this caption is that there is no wound,” another added.
President Trump showing his bullet wound to prime Minister Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/VIZ7Sv3nQe
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) July 26, 2024
That same day, Trump spoke at the Believer’s Summit in West Palm Beach where he made his first public appearance without bandages. “As I think you can see, I’ve recovered well. And, in fact, I just took off the last bandage off of my ear,” he told the crowd, per Fox News. Trump appealed to his audience while referencing his bandage-free ear. “I took it off for this group. I don’t know why I did that for this group, but that’s it,” he said.
Before his public appearance, a report from the FBI speculated that Trump’s ear had been hit by shrapnel and not a bullet. His former doctor, Dr. Ronny Jackson, issued a statement on July 26 saying the damage was indeed caused by a bullet, per the Mirror. A debate started online as more photos of Trump’s ear surfaced.
A hoax tweet of Donald Trump’s ear went viral
Another photo shared online on July 26 had people debating Donald Trump’s assassination attempt. Former White House photographer Pete Souza posted a picture of Trump walking up the staircase into a private plane with his bandage-free ear and argued that he had not sustained any injury. “Look closely at his ear that was ‘hit’ by a bullet from a AR-15 assault rifle,” Souza wrote on X, formerly Twitter. However, Souza’s account was deactivated shortly after discrediting Trump’s injury, which was noted by journalist David Leavitt.
Renowned photojournalist and White House photographer “no longer exists” on Twitter after posting an AP picture of Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/AfHqoZKrue
— David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) July 28, 2024
Seeing the Republican candidate’s ear intact had some questioning the source of Trump’s wound. “This is so strange, does anyone else think trump didn’t actually get shot?” an X user commented. Others were quick to point out that while the flesh damage was not substantial that it was clear Trump had in fact sustained injury. “Disagree, there is evidence of damage at the top,” one X user replied. “How grown adults can’t understand that a 5.56mm hole in your ear can be sewn up and properly heal is beyond me,” another wrote.
Around the same time, another alleged photo of Trump’s ear post-bandage went viral. In that snap, Trump was seen standing behind his running mate J.D. Vance, who was addressing a crowd. This was supposed to be evidence that Trump’s ear had not been injured, but that post turned out to be a hoax. The photo in question of Trump and Vance was taken in 2022, and not after the 2024 rally shooting, per the Associated Press.
