Last Update July 21, 2024 04:02am ET

Former President Trump spoke to his supporters during a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, as federal investigators looked into whether shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks flew a drone over the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump on July 13

Covered by: Chris Pandolfo, Landon Mion, Greg Wehnerand Andrea Vacchiano

Fast Facts

•  Former President Trump will head to Michigan on Saturday for his first rally since the assassination attempt last weekend in Pennsylvania.  
•  A private funeral was held Friday for Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old volunteer firefighter who was killed by gunfire at former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last weekend.  
•  Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, attempted to kill Trump with a rifle but narrowly missed, wounding the former president’s right ear. He also wounded two others, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. 
•  Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents after opening fire on Trump from the rooftop of a nearby building. 

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8 hour(s) ago

PINNED

Trump pulls union member up on stage during rally, jokes that he ‘does not carry guns’

A United Auto Workers Union member greets former President Donald Trump during a rally. (Credit: Associated Press)

Former President Trump pulled a union worker that he recognized on stage during a campaign rally on Saturday.

Trump was speaking about electric cars when he suddenly recognized an audience member.

“Are you the same guy? Yes? No kidding,” Trump said. “Pretty good memory, right? Unlike somebody else that I happen to be running against.”

The Republican then encouraged the worker to get up on stage and joked around with him.

“He’s a serious union guy, a United Auto Workers [worker],” Trump said. “He does not carry guns. Come on up here, look at him. Look at the shape he’s in.”

“I’m glad to see this guy,” the union worker said energetically at the podium. “I told you, we’re gonna get 85 million of us out there to vote for him. So let’s go home from this rally and do our part.”

Posted by Andrea Vacchiano Share

16 min(s) ago

Secret Service responds to report it repeatedly denied requests to Trump security detail in the past

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The U.S. Secret Service recently responded to a Washington Post report that claimed the agency’s top officials “repeatedly” denied requests to former President Trump’s security detail.

The report comes exactly a week after former President Donald Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, while speaking at a rally, prior to his 2024 presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been observed by attendees before the shooting began.

The Post reported that, before the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, top Secret Service officials “repeatedly” denied requests for tighter security measures from Trump’s detail. An official granted the interview to the media outlet on the condition of anonymity.

According to the report, agents tasked with protecting Trump requested additional security resources in the past. These requests involved things such as magnetometers or a larger number of personnel to screen guests. Additional snipers had also reportedly been requested in the past.

Senior officials reportedly told the agents that the Secret Service lacked the resources to fulfill the requests. The Post reviewed multiple requests, but none of them pertained to the Butler rally.

On Saturday night, the Secret Service released a statement obtained by Fox News Digital explaining that the agency “has a vast, dynamic, and intricate mission.”

“Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel, and other challenging environments,” the statement read. “We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology, and specialized operational needs.”

The Secret Service also added that, even if a request is denied, the agency still tries to accommodate in some form to ensure the safety of whoever is being protected.

“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protected,” the statement added. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”

Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano, CB Cotton and David Spunt contributed to this report.

Posted by Landon Mion Share

3 hour(s) ago

Trump says he ‘took a bullet for democracy’ at massive battleground state rally alongside Vance

Former President Donald Trump declared Saturdaythat he “took a bullet for democracy” while firing up a crowd of voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at his first rally since surviving an assassination attempt last week.

More than 12,000 people piled into the Van Andel Arena, home to the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team, to see him and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who are coming off a packed week at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, where each accepted their respective nominations to appear on the GOP ticket together.

“They keep saying he’s a threat to democracy. I’m saying, ‘’What the hell did I do to democracy?’ Last week I took a bullet for democracy,” Trump said as the crowd cheered, referencing an often used Democrat talking point. “What did I do against democracy? Crazy.”

Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie , Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.

Posted by Landon Mion Share

3 hour(s) ago

Bethel Park congressional candidate: Wounded Trump had opportunity to divide but chose unity

Former President Trump could have used the assassination attempt against him to further divide a politically fractured nation, but he instead chose to try to unify by exhibiting strength and offering an inclusive RNC message, the GOP congressional candidate running in the shooter’s home district said.

James Hayes, the son of a steelworker who went on to work for the Richmond Federal Reserve before returning to Pittsburgh, said his community is still reeling from both the assassination attempt and the discovery that shooter Thomas Crooks lived there.

Hayes, running against “Squad” member Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., said it is “unimaginable” that the incident would involve a community like Bethel Park.

“It’s a very conservative group of people that just absolutely love America. They’re very patriotic. And for someone to come out of that area and be the shooter is just unbelievable for all of us,” Hayes said.

“I’ve spoken to people in that area, and they just can’t — I mean, they just can’t believe that someone from that area ended up being the shooter,” he said.

Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Posted by Landon Mion Share

4 hour(s) ago

Trump tells Jesse Watters that he was not warned about gunman, despite reports

Fox News host Jesse Watters recently conducted a sit-down interview with former President Trump to discuss last week’s failed assassination attempt.

The interview, which will premiere on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, featured both Trump and his vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Vance currently serves as a U.S. Senator representing Ohio.

The three men discussed the assassination attempt against the former president last week. Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump from a roof in the middle of a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding the presidential candidate on his right ear.

Trump revealed during the interview that he was not warned about Crooks by the U.S. Secret Service.

“Mistakes were made,” Watters told Trump. “They were monitoring this guy for an hour beforehand. No one told you not to take the stage?”

“Nobody mentioned it,” the former president replied. “Nobody said it was a problem.”

“[They] could’ve said, ‘Let’s wait for 15, 20 minutes, 5 minutes.’ Nobody said…I think that was a mistake,” he added.

Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.