- Several questions remain open regarding Donald Trump’s injuries following the assassination attempt.
- Trump’s former White House physician, Ronny L. Jackson, said the statement said the injury was caused by a bullet.
- He added that the bullet “was less than a quarter of an inch from penetrating his head.”
Donald Trump’s former White House physician says the former president was wounded by a bullet in an assassination attempt and the projectile narrowly missed his head.
According to a statement posted on X by Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician and now a Texas congressman, a bullet was less than “a quarter of an inch” from entering Trump’s head.
“The bullet passed by, came less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and hit him above his right ear,” Jackson said in statement“The bullet’s path produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended to the surface of the ear cartilage.”
The assassination attempt on Trump took place on July 13 when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at an outdoor Trump rally in Pennsylvania. Two rallygoers were critically injured and one person was killed in the shooting.
Photographers’ images showed blood appearing to be coming from Trump’s right ear. The photo, taken by New York Times photographer Doug Mills, appeared to show the bullet passing over the former president’s head.
Jackson previously told the Times that Trump told him the bullet would have hit him in the head if he had not turned to look at the chart.
Questions remain open about the shooter’s motive and Trump’s injuries a week after the incident.
The full extent of the injury, other than damage to Trump’s right ear, is still unknown, and investigators have not said what type of projectile, bullet or debris, struck the former president, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta wrote.
A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jackson said in his statement that Trump’s injury was accompanied by “noticeable swelling throughout the upper ear” and that further evaluation would be needed.
“The swelling has gone down, and the wound is starting to crust over and heal nicely,” he said, adding that there was “periodic bleeding that required dressings.”
Jackson served as the White House physician for former President Barack Obama and the first half of the Trump administration.
The Dallas Morning News reported in 2023 that Jackson did not have a Texas medical license, and his Virginia license had expired several years ago. The report also said Jackson’s Florida license had lapsed since he retired from the Navy in 2019.
A spokesman for Jackson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the congressman’s medical licensing history.
