Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2019, said that the two attempts on his life “have not broken” his will but have “tempered” his desire to use his time “on earth to make America great again.”
Trump said at his gathering from Uniondale, New York, that his “encounters with death” had not broken his will but had instead given him a “bigger and stronger purpose.”
Trump also said that God had “saved” his life twice.
“It must have been twice that God spared my life. Some say he did it because Trump is going to change this state, this country, and America again.” Trump said, “And we are going to bring religion back into our country. These close calls with death have not broken my will; instead, they have given me a much bigger and better goal. They’ve only made me more determined to use my life to put America first and make America great again for everyone.”
Ryan Wesley Routh was caught on Sunday after reportedly hiding in the bushes near Trump International Golf Course, where Trump was playing golf. This is when Trump made his statements.
The Secret Service saw Routh pointing a gun through a fence and firing, so he reportedly ran away from the scene.
Police said they found two backpacks, an AK-style weapon, and a GoPro camera in the bushes where Routh was hidden.
Before this, on July 13, a man named Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump’s gathering in Butler, Pennsylvania, from the roof of a nearby building.
The former president has said that God saved his life after the first attempt on his life. When asked about the second attempt on his life, Trump said on X Space that “something is going on, maybe it’s God.”
