Does a photo taken immediately after the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on Donald Trump show a dark circular bullet hole in the chest of his suit coat? No, that's not true: The dark spot is not a hole in Trump's suit but a wrinkle in someone else's. The original photo by an Associated Press photographer shows several Secret Service agents tightly clustered around Trump with their arms interlocking. One female officer, who is also wearing a navy-blue suit jacket, has her arm raised in such a way that her sleeve cap is folding under the suit's tailored shoulder, creating a dark shadow. Trump himself said after the shooting that he was hit in the ear, not in the chest.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on July 13, 2024. It was captioned:
🚨🚨🚨Trump just started wearing a bulletproof vest as advised by his security detail. It saved his life!! He took a shot to the chest!!🔥🔥🔥
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing. The post includes a cropped detail from a larger photo with a yellow circle added around the area in question:
(Image source: X screenshot taken on Sun Jul 14 01:54:13 2024 UTC)
This fact check will not extend to the question of whether Donald Trump was wearing a bullet proof vest.
The claim of a "shot to the chest" is based on a misinterpretation of a small round dark area seen in a photo. The dark area is not a bullet hole in Trump's jacket. The Philadelphia ABC News station WPVI published an article with the photo below on July 13, 2024. The photo is captioned:
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
(Image source: 6abc.com screenshot taken on Sun Jul 14 03:48:30 2024 UTC)
Opening this image in a new tab will open a much higher resolution copy of this image here (archived here). In the Lead Stories composite image below, the area in question (circle in the upper left) has been enlarged without enhancing, showing the difference in color of the two blue suit coats, and the fold in the shoulder area of the Secret Service officer that created the dark shadow -- misinterpreted to be a bullet hole. Another photo taken by Evan Vucci and posted on Instagram in a carousel of photos (link to the the third image) shows Trump raising his fist as he was escorted from the stage -- there is a plain view of the right chest panet of his suit, and there is no bullet hole.
(Image source: Lead Stories composite image with X and cdn.abcotvs.com screenshots taken on Sun Jul 14 03:54:18 2024 UTC)
In a 8:42 p.m. post on July 13, 2024, on Truth Social (archived here), Trump wrote that a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear, but he did not mention anything about having been shot in the chest.
(Image source: Truthsocial.com screenshot taken on Sun Jul 14 02:54:00 2024 UTC)
A post on X (archived here) from the chief of communications for the United States Secret Service contains a press statement that reads:
UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE PRESS STATEMENT
July 13, 2024
"During former President Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on the evening of July 13th at approximately 6:15 p.m., a suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue. US Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased. US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and the former president is safe and being evaluated. One spectator was killed, two spectators were critically injured. The incident is currently under investigation and the Secret Service has formally notified the Federal Bureau of investigation."
Anthony Guglielmi Chief of Communications
(Image source: X screenshot taken on Sun Jul 14 03:02:49 2024 UTC)
