Good morning. We’re covering the F.B.I.’s search for a motive in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and an airstrike on Gaza.
Plus: A wedding for the new Gilded Age.
Donald Trump, his ear covered in blood and with streaks of blood on his face, is tightly surrounded by Secret Service agents, their arms linked around him.
After shots rang out, Donald Trump was swarmed by Secret Service agents. Doug Mills/The New York Times
‘Defiant in the face of wickedness’
Shots rang out at a Trump rally on Saturday night. The former president clutched his right ear, spurting blood, then ducked for cover as his supporters screamed and Secret Service agents leaped on top of him.
Within moments, someone shouted “shooter down,” and the agents began moving Trump offstage. He pumped his fist in the air and seemed to shout “Fight! Fight!” as the crowd erupted with chants of “U.S.A.!” See a visual timeline of the shooting.
For the first time in more than four decades, a man who was elected president of the U.S. was wounded in an assassination attempt. The shooting killed one man, injured Trump and critically wounded two others. Secret Service snipers killed the assailant. Here’s what to know.
Donald Trump pumps his fist in the air as he is swarmed by secret service agents. There is blood on his face.
Trump pumped his fist in the air and seemed to shout “Fight! Fight!” after the shooting. Eric Lee/The New York Times
F.B.I. agents are now investigating the shooting as a possible domestic terrorism attack and assassination attempt. The officials said that they had found no indication that the 20-year-old gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pa., was part of any larger plot, and that their top priority was determining his motive.
The officials said they had not uncovered evidence that the shooter, a registered Republican, had mental health issues. They said that his phone, rifle and a possible “rudimentary” explosive device found among his possessions had been sent to the bureau’s lab in Quantico, Va. The shooter’s family was cooperating with the investigation, the F.B.I. said.
World leaders and elected officials condemned the violence, and some prominent Trump backers accused Democrats of inflammatory rhetoric that incited the attack. The Biden campaign suspended its television advertising, and the Trump campaign warned staffers to avoid “dangerous rhetoric on social media.”
Trump: The former president said that a bullet had pierced his right ear, and he vowed to remain “defiant in the face of wickedness.” He was able to walk off his plane unaided when it landed in New Jersey hours later. Trump is set to be formally nominated at the Republican National Convention, beginning in Milwaukee today.
Biden: In a short Oval Office address last night, President Biden condemned the attack, urging Americans to “lower the temperature.” He added: “Politics must never be a literal battlefield and, God forbid, a killing field.” He said he had demanded a national security review and promised to share the results with the American people.
For more:
The assassination attempt has plunged the 2024 presidential race into shock and uncertainty. The attack will likely tear Americans further apart, my colleague Peter Baker writes.
Times reporters and photographers described what they saw at the rally. One image by the photographer, Doug Mills, appeared to show a bullet streaking by Trump’s head.
From Opinion: Any attempt to resolve an election through violence is abhorrent, members of the Times editorial board write.
