FACT CHECK: Trump Was Struck By A Bullet Despite Online Claims

A post shared on X claims former President Donald Trump’s injury was caused by glass, not a bullet.

Trump disappeared for ten days after the debate and nobody asked why. I believe he had Covid but they don’t want us to know just like they don’t want us to know that Trump was hit with glass.

— Henry M. Rosenberg (@DoctorHenryCT) July 18, 2024

Verdict: False

While there were some reports that Trump was struck by glass, all available evidence shows that he was grazed by a bullet.

Fact Check:

Social media users have been sharing claims that Trump was struck by glass and not by a bullet. One user wrote, “Trump disappeared for ten days after the debate and nobody asked why. I believe he had Covid but they don’t want us to know just like they don’t want us to know that Trump was hit with glass.”

All evidence points to Trump being hit by a bullet and not by glass. First, Trump said he was struck by a bullet in a July 13 Truth Social post. (RELATED: Viral X Image Falsely Claims Trump Rally Shooter Was Transgender)

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” Trump wrote.

Trump posted a letter on Truth Social from Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, his former physician, that detailed his wound and how he sustained it.

“The bullet passed, coming less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear. The bullet track 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,” Jackson wrote in his letter.

Jackson also spoke with The New York Times about tending to Trump’s wound and changing the dressing on it. He said, “The bullet took a little bit off the top of his ear in an area that, just by nature, bleeds like crazy.”

An image of a bullet flying past Trump was also captured by The New York Times photographer Doug Mills. A series of photos shows Trump touching his ear and blood appearing as the bullet travels past him.

A remarkable series of photos taken by @dougmillsnyt and posted on NYT, where you can see a bullet fly past Trump’s head, Trump touching his right ear, and then removing his hand with blood on it: https://t.co/BlVYoEASHN pic.twitter.com/MyptVvjHaX

— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) July 14, 2024

The claim appears to originate from early reports that Trump was struck by glass. These reports were walked back or undermined by photos, according to Raw Story. Snopes has also fact-checked false claims that Trump was injured by glass from teleprompters.

An image posted by Oliver Alexander, an open-source intelligence analyst, also shows that the teleprompters were intact, not broken.

No. Trump was not hit by glass from a teleprompter. Both teleprompters at the event can be seen intact after the shooting. pic.twitter.com/DNPz52iPjI

— Oliver Alexander (@OAlexanderDK) July 21, 2024

Media outlets such as Politico and Reuters have reported that Trump was struck by a bullet.

There does not appear to be any official confirmation from the Secret Service and the FBI that Trump was hit by a bullet. NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian reported that a Secret Service spokesman confirmed to NBC News correspondent homeland security Julia Ainsely that Trump was struck by a bullet.

Per @JuliaEAinsley, a Secret Service spokesman confirms Trump was struck by a bullet, not a piece of glass

— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) July 19, 2024

A Secret Service spokesperson disputed this reporting, telling Check Your Fact that no Secret Service spokesperson confirmed that Trump was struck by a bullet. The spokesperson referred Check Your Fact to statements made on social media by Trump and to the FBI.

Anthony Gugliemi, the chief spokesman for the Secret Service, told Check Your Fact in an email that “we did not confirm that [Trump was shot].”

The FBI told Check Your Fact the bureau had no comment.