Trump marks Butler assassination attempt anniversary: US President’s inner circle says ‘he believes he’s spared by God’

Today marks one year since the July 13 shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania—an attack that nearly took his life and claimed the life of a supporter.

“A miracle he’s not dead”

Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime friend of Trump, said the incident continues to weigh heavily on the President.

“I think it’s always in the back of his mind,” Graham said. “He’s still a rough and tumble guy… But he’s more appreciative. He’s more attentive to his friends.”

Graham added, “It’s just a miracle he’s not dead. He definitely was a man who believed he had a second lease on life.”

“He believes he’s protected now by the Lord”

Longtime adviser Roger Stone said Trump has become “more serene and more determined” since the attack. “He told me directly that he believed he was spared by God for the purpose of restoring the nation to greatness.”

Ralph Reed, head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, agreed that the event had a profound impact. “He knew he was lucky to be alive,” said Reed. “It’s hard not to feel on some level that the hand of providence protected him for some greater purpose.”

Memorializing the moment

Rather than shy away from reminders of the attack, Trump has embraced it as a symbol of his resilience. A painting of him standing after the shooting, fist raised in defiance, now hangs in the White House foyer. A bronze sculpture of the same moment sits in the Oval Office beside the Resolute Desk.

A spiritual awakening?

Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff and former campaign head, said in a podcast interview last week that Trump “walked away from the shooting believing he had been spared for a reason.”

She credited divine intervention, explaining how Trump’s decision to ask for a particular chart at a certain moment caused him to turn his head just enough to avoid a fatal shot. “That just doesn’t happen because it happened,” she said. “It happened because, I believe, God wanted him to live.”

According to Wiles, Trump’s expressions like “God bless America” have since taken on deeper meaning. “It’s more profound with him now, and it’s more personal.”

“This is a dangerous business”

Trump frequently references the event in speeches and has even credited a border chart—a visual aid he turned to moments before the shot—with saving his life. “I get that throbbing feeling every once in a while,” he told reporters last month, pointing to his ear. “But you know what, that’s OK. This is a dangerous business. What I do is a dangerous business.”

“I was really saved”

In a Fox News interview airing Saturday, Trump himself acknowledged that the experience left a lasting imprint. “I have an obligation to do a good job, I feel, because I was really saved,” he said. “I owe a lot. And I think—I hope—the reason I was saved was to save our country.”

From brush with death to FIFA final

Trump will spend the anniversary of the Butler shooting attending the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. He and Melania Trump are expected at MetLife Stadium for the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea—an event viewed as a preview of the 2026 World Cup, which North America will co-host.

Secret Service fallout: Suspensions

On July 10, the US Secret Service confirmed that six agents had been suspended for failing to prevent the 2024 Butler attack. The shooter had accessed a rooftop with an unimpeded line of sight to Trump. The agency, under intense scrutiny, said the suspensions ranged from 10 to 42 days. Director Sean Curran has since resigned.

“There were mistakes made. And that shouldn’t have happened,” Trump said in the Fox interview, pointing out the lack of rooftop surveillance and communication failures with local police.

The Secret Service says it has implemented 21 of 46 oversight recommendations, with 16 more in progress. It’s also ramping up protective measures, including new protocols for golf courses—a nod to another thwarted attack just two months after Butler, when a man with a rifle was spotted near one of Trump’s Florida properties.