Moment Barron Trump learned of assassination attempt on father Donald revealed

‘He loves his father, he’s a good kid, good student, good athlete actually,’ Trump said of his youngest son’s reaction

Myriam Page
Monday 02 September 2024 13:24 BST
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Donald Trump has revealed the moment his son, Barron, heard about the July 13 assassination attempt

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Donald Trump has revealed details about the moment that his youngest son Barron Trump learned about the July 13 attempt on his life.

The former president sat down with Fox News’ Mark Levin to discuss his new book Save America, out on September 3, which features a now-famous photograph from the attempted assassination and claims to offer an “unparalleled look” into Trump’s time as the 45th president as well as, arguably a bit prematurely, his “vision for his next term.”

During the interview, Trump told the story of how 18-year-old Barron learned about the shooting while at a tennis lesson.

"Barron was outside having a tennis lesson," Trump reflected, adding that his son is “a good tennis player.”

“And somebody ran up, ‘Barron! Barron! Your father's been shot!’”

Trump expanded on his son’s reaction to the news: “He was – he loves his father, he’s a good kid, good student, good athlete actually – and he ran, ‘Mom! What’s going on? What’s going on?’”

The shooting took place while Trump was giving a speech at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on the afternoon of July 13.

He was showcasing a chart of border crossing statistics when gunfire rung out.

Barron Trump, after graduating from Oxbridge Academy in May, will attend college in New York this fall
Barron Trump, after graduating from Oxbridge Academy in May, will attend college in New York this fall (AFP via Getty Images)

The 78-year-old was struck in the right ear by a bullet, before ducking behind the podium as Secret Service agents rushed on stage.

One rallygoer was killed and two others wounded, before a Secret Service sniper shot the gunman dead.

Turning to Melania's response to the shooting, Trump said: “She couldn't believe it. She was actually watching it live, can you imagine? And then I get up, and I let people know I was okay.”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” he added, referring to the moment that he stood up and shouted to the crowd, fist raised in the air and blood streaming down his face, while Secret Service agents tried to bundle him off the rally stage.

“But I let people know I was okay. But it was a hit, it was a big hit.”

Trump had already revealed to Fox News back in July that his wife was watching the rally live when the shooting unfolded and that she couldn’t bear to speak about the attack.

“When I could talk to people I said, ‘So what was your feeling?’, and she said she can’t even talk about it, which is okay because that means she likes me,” he said.

Speaking to Levin about the odds of him surviving the shooting, the GOP presidential candidate called it a “miracle” and again claimed it was an act of God.

Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face as he is surrounding by secret service agents as he is taken off-stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13
Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face as he is surrounding by secret service agents as he is taken off-stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 (AFP via Getty Images)

“From that distance it’s supposed to be, like, a sure thing. Like sinking a one-foot put,” he said, before going on to praise his two older sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, for being “great with the guns,” adding that they are “top of the line.”

“And Don called me, he said, ‘I can’t believe it. From that distance – I can’t believe it,’” Trump said.

He went on to claim in the interview that if he hadn’t turned his head slightly at the right moment, the outcome of the day would have been very different.

“If I turned around just a little bit less, or a little bit more. If I turned around more or less, it was still the end,” he told Levin.

“So, it’s God. I know people that have become believers in God because of it.”

His comments about Barron’s reaction to that day come as the former president’s youngest son is set to start college this fall, after having graduated from his Florida high school Oxbridge Academy last month.

Trump told The New Yorker that Barron will go to college somewhere in New York, where he was also born, but did not specify where exactly, teasing that they would make an announcement “soon”.

Since his father’s claim, schools across the state have begun their freshman programs, but no one has spotted Barron in attendance.

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