A week after a shooter injured Donald Trump’s ear at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the former president’s campaign released the first public update on his health.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who served as Trump’s physician in the White House, wrote in a letter that the would-be assassin’s bullet came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear,” noting that it “produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear.”
“There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear,” he continued. “The swelling has since resolved, and the wound is beginning to granulate and heal properly. Based on the highly vascular nature of the ear, there is still intermittent bleeding requiring a dressing to be in place. Given the broad and blunt nature of the wound itself, no sutures were required.”
Trump wore a bandage on his ear throughout the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week. Some convention attendees donned their own bandages in solidarity with the former president. At least one vendor sold American flag-themed earpieces.
In his convention speech, Trump recounted what the shooting felt like, saying: “I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear. I said to myself, wow, what was that, it can only be a bullet, and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down. My hand was covered with blood. Just absolutely blood all over the place.”
Jackson concluded in his letter that Trump “is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon,” adding: “It is an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed.”
The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, reportedly used an AR-15 style rifle. One rally attendee was killed in the shooting. Two attendees were critically injured.