Trump shooting latest: Secret Service denies diverting resources to Jill Biden speech - as Trump gives first interview (2024)

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has sparked a frenzy of online merchandise featuring pictures of the former president just after he was shot, with slogans such as "Bulletproof", "Legends Never Die", "Grazed but not Dazed", "Shooting Makes Me Stronger".

"[The sales] exceeded my expectations. I didn't expect that Trump would have so many fans," said Zhong Jiachi, 28, owner of Paxinico, a clothing merchant on Douyin, the Chinese version of
Tiktok.

He sold around 40 T-shirts within 24 hours of the shooting.

Li Jinwei, 25, who sells goods on Alibaba's Taobao platform, told Hong Kong media it took roughly just half a minute to produce a Trump T-shirt at her factory in China.

"We put the T-shirts on Taobao as soon as we saw the news about the shooting, though we hadn't even printed them, and within three hours we saw more than 2,000 orders from both China and the United States," she said.

Donald Trump merchandise has been wildly popular since his political rise, with T-shirts, hats and flags often sported at his rallies by attendees.

They save the Oval Office address for serious times - conflict, typically.

On both counts - serious and conflict - a president's prime-time appearance seemed appropriate.

This was a Joe Biden presentation on the gravity of the current situation, eyeballing an American audience on attritional politics.

Phrases like "political battlefield" and "killing field" offered an extreme warning, the choice of language deliberately stark and arresting.

It might have sounded like hyperbole, had Saturday's events not rendered it real.

Read the rest of James Matthews's analysis here.

As we've been reporting, we're expecting Donald Trump to give a speech to the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

You can read more about what to expect from him in our 9.11am and 7.27am posts, but for now let's take a look at how the wider four-day RNC is structured...

Today's theme is: "Make America wealthy once again."

We're expecting speakers to focus on economic policies, regulation cuts and reworked trade deals.

Tomorrow will be: "Make America safe once again," with Mr Trump's proposals to bolster law enforcement and combat drug and human trafficking likely to be outlined.

Wednesday's theme is :"Make America strong once again," focusing on foreign policy initiatives championed by the Trump campaign.

Thursday, when Mr Trump himself is set to be speak, has a theme of: "Make America great once again."

Surviving an assassination attempt adds to Donald Trump's "aura of indestructibility", the former UK ambassador to the US has said.

"It was another extraordinary example of the indestructibility of Donald Trump," Lord Darroch told Sky News.

"For a bullet to hit his ear, for others to whiz past him... he actually captured the moment at the end by raising his fist in that iconic photograph.

"He really does have an aura of indestructibility about him."

Moving to the election, Lord Darroch said the impact has yet to be felt.

"I do think it's possible that those who might not have voted at all might now turn out in some kind of sympathy vote for him... the opinion polls will tell us something," he suggested.

"It would be a very good thing if this appalling event actually led to a change in the tone of this election, because it's been horrifying so far."

By Niamh Lynch, news reporter

Thomas Matthew Crooks has been named as the gunman in the assassination attempt against Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday evening.

Described as an "outcast" who regularly wore hunting outfits to school, Crooks lived in a well-to-do city an hour from the scene of his assassination attempt.

Investigators say bomb-making material was found in a vehicle at his home.

Who was the gunman?

Law enforcement said Crooks was 20 years old and from Bethel Park in Pennsylvania, a predominantly white, relatively well-to-do city in the southern part of greater Pittsburgh.

The site of the rally, Butler, is about an hour's drive north of Pittsburgh.

Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on 20 January 2021, the day Joe Biden was sworn into office.

An 'outcast' who wasn't let onto the school rifle team

A high school classmate, Jason Kohler, 21, said Crooks was a "loner" who was "bullied so much in high school".

He would regularly wear hunting outfits and was made fun of for the way he dressed, Mr Kohler said.

"He would sit alone at lunch. He was just the outcast," Mr Kohler said. "It's honestly kind of sad."

Crooks tried out for the school's rifle team but was turned away because he was "a bad shooter", said Frederick Mach, a current captain of the team who was a few years behind Crooks at the school.

Michael Dudjak, 20, who went to school with Crooks for most of his life, recalled him as a relatively reserved and quiet classmate. He didn't hear or see Crooks being actively bullied by their peers but Crooks was "on his own a lot".

He couldn't recall Crooks ever being outspoken about politics or very active on social media. Mr Dudjak was with some friends and acquaintances from high school on Saturday night when he learned that Crooks was the gunman.

They were all "in shock" and "couldn't fathom" the news, he said.

'What the hell is going on?'

Thomas Crooks's father, Matthew Crooks, reportedly told CNN late on Saturday that he was trying to figure out "what the hell is going on" but wouldn't speak about his son until after he talked to law enforcement.

Crooks used an AR-style rifle, which authorities said they believe was purchased by his father.

Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge in Pittsburgh, said that investigators do not yet know if he took the gun without his father's permission.

Crooks worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide, a job that generally involves food preparation.

Marcie Grimm, the administrator of Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, said in a statement she was "shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement".

Ms Grimm added that Crooks had a clean background check when he was hired.

He is believed to have won a National Maths and Science Initiative Star Award worth $500 (£393) on graduating from Bethel Park High School in 2022, according to local news site the Tribune Review.

Demolition Ranch

He also appeared to wear merchandise promoting one of YouTube's most popular channels devoted to firearms during the attack, NBC News reported.

He was wearing a grey T-shirt with an American flag on the sleeve and block lettering that was partially obscured in photos from the scene.

The appearance and lettering on the shirt match a shirt for sale by the firearms YouTube channel Demolition Ranch.

After online speculation grew about the gunman, Demolition Ranch's founder posted to social media, sharing photos of the shooting's aftermath and writing: "Last night was crazy… I've got news stations calling me asking if I ever spoke with the shooter… what… the… hell."

Demolition Ranch has more than 11 million subscribers on YouTube, where the channel frequently posts videos about various types of firearms.

Police said they were "not taking for granted that this was a lone wolf attack" and the attack has now been described as a potential domestic terrorism act by the FBI.

Law enforcement also said during a news conference on Sunday that there were suspicious packages around where the gunman was.

A body with a rifle beside it was visible to members of the public on the roof of a building near the rally after the attack.

FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said at a news conference that investigators had not yet identified a motive for the shooting.

The King has written a letter to Donald Trump, Buckingham Palace has said.

The message to the former US president was delivered yesterday via the British embassy in Washington DC.

The palace said the contents of the correspondence will be kept private.

However, it is understood it was in keeping with Sir Keir Starmer's conversation with Mr Trump, during which he condemned the violence, expressed his condolences for the victims and their families, and wished him and those injured a quick recovery.

As the weekend wore on, more and more footage was shared showing the momentThomas Matthew Crooks shot at former president Donald Trump.

This video shows all the angles.

Watch below...

By Martha Kelner, US correspondent

Donald Trump created a historic image of defiance just seconds after being repeatedly shot at - even if he didn't fully appreciate it at the time.

He scrambled to his feet, right ear and cheek bloodied, dishevelled and without his shoes, and pumped his fist to the skies, conjuring cries of "USA, USA" from his supporters.

Even in awful circ*mstances, the former president demonstrated why he is considered the ultimate political performance artist.It is a picture for the ages.

In the 24 hours since the shooting, Team Trump has insisted the show will go on and the venue for this resilience tour will be the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump wrote that he was going to delay his trip to the RNC but decided that he could not "allow" a "shooter", or "potential assassin", to disrupt his plans.

Even before the weekend's attempted assassination, the RNC was a big deal.

It happens once every four years and is where the party will confirm Donald Trump as its nominee and he will announce his vice presidential pick from a presumed shortlist of three candidates; North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, Ohio senator JD Vance and Florida senator Marco Rubio.

The convention, which will be held at the home of the Milwaukee Bucks Basketball team Fiserv forum, is now taking place under drastically different circ*mstances.

Some speakers have been told not to alter their speeches because organisers don't want them to be repetitive and would like to avoid Saturday's shooting being the sole focus.

Mr Trump's motorcade arrived at his hotel in Milwaukee early yesterday evening.

The entrance to the hotel was guarded by police instructing guests to walk through airport style scanners and the lobby was swarming with Secret Service agents, local police and homeland security investigations agents.

A black curtain was drawn across one back entrance to the hotel, obscuring the view from other guests, and Mr Trump was whisked from his motorcade into a lift and directly up to his suite.

It was a departure from his usual arrival at these sorts of events, where he would normally wave to supporters in the lobby.

A short while later his son Eric arrived but remained schtum when asked by reporters how his dad was doing.

Two party delegates having a drink in the Trump hotel bar told me they had been "extremely distressed" watching events unfold at the Pennsylvania rally.

"I was horrified, disgusted, sickened," one woman said, "I regularly go to Trump rallies and feel very safe. I probably would go again, but I want the Secret Service to start using drones to identify any threats."

Secret Service police said they had not adjusted their security plans in Milwaukee in light of the shooting, and there would be no changes to the security perimeter.

But there was, palpably, more anxiety among law enforcement officers on the ground.

Donald Trump will be closely guarded throughout the week and will not access the venue via public entrances. He is expected to appear at the convention today and will make a speech on Thursday evening.

The theme for Wednesday's proceedings at the RNC is "Make America Strong Again".

The Trump campaign calls Joe Biden, "the weakest commander-in-chief in our country's history."

That image of Donald Trump, pumping his fist and shouting "fight, fight, fight" will only serve to help them in conveying his strongman image.

More images have been released of the man killed during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Corey Comperatore, who was 50, died a "hero" after he dived on top of his family to shield them from the bullets, state governor Josh Shapiro said.

President of the Buffalo Township volunteer fire company Randy Reamer said Mr Comperatore had served as chief of the company for about three years and was a "stand-up guy" and a "true brother of the fire service".

Donald Trump has said it is a "miracle" he survived an attempt on his life on Saturday.

The former president made the comment while speaking to the New York Poston a flight bound for Milwaukee for the GOP National Convention.

Wearing a loose white bandage that covered his right ear, he said: "The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle."

"I'm not supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be dead," he added.

"I'm supposed to be dead."

He said that turning his head slightly to the right as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks pulled the trigger saved his life.

Throughout the conversation, his staff insisted that no photos be taken of him.