As the former president thanked people for their “thoughts and prayers,” he added that it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
The attack was the first shooting of a U.S. president or major presidential party candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.
One person who attended the rally was killed and two other spectators were critically wounded, the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies said.
His campaign’s “love goes out to the other victims and their families,” according to a statement he released on Truth Social. “We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.”
Confirming that he will attend the RNC, he wrote, “I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.”
The former president is due to receive his party’s formal nomination at the RNC, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday, later this week.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was shot and killed by the Secret Service seconds after he allegedly fired shots toward a stage where the former president was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania. The FBI said it was working to determine a motive for the attack, in which one rally attendee died and two other spectators were critically injured.
The former president and officials said that he was shot in the ear during the incident, while his campaign released a statement after the incident saying that he was fine and in good spirits.
During the rally, former President Trump was speaking before loud, popping noises rang out, forcing the former president to the ground while members of his security detail covered him. He was then seen getting up with blood streaked across his face before raising a fist to the crowd.
The roof of a building where the shooter was located was about 500 feet from the stage where the former president was speaking. An AR-15-style rifle was recovered near his body, officials said.
Law enforcement officials told reporters they had not yet identified a motive for the attack. Mr. Crooks’ political leanings were also not made immediately clear, and officials did not say whether the incident was politically motivated.
On Saturday evening, the former president confirmed that he had been “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” adding that “much bleeding took place.”
The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when former President Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls suggested the two locked in a close contest.
President Biden, as well as leading Democratic and Republican members of Congress, condemned the attack.
“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” the president said in a statement on Saturday evening.
“This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on social media.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he was horrified by what happened and was relieved former President Trump was safe. “Political violence has no place in our country,” he said.
