A week after an assassination attempt left former President Donald Trump with a bullet wound to his right ear, former presidential physician Ronny Jackson said that Trump is “doing well” and “recovering as expected” in the first official doctor’s note released since the incident.
Last Saturday, Trump, the GOP presidential nominee as of Monday, was struck by a bullet at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investing as an assassination attempt. At the Republican National Convention (RNC) this week, Trump wore a bandage on his right ear. Several attendees at the convention also wore fake bandages on their ears in solidarity.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper. One rally attendee, 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed in the shooting and two more were seriously injured, according to the Secret Service. They were reported to be in stable condition as of Monday.
The former president posted a health update to his Truth Social account on Saturday, which his campaign also emailed to supporters. Newsweek obtained a copy of the update.
Jackson, a Republican who currently represents Texas’ 13th Congressional District and a staunch Trump supporter, is a physician with a career in serving and caring for presidents.
In 2019, he was the first chief medical adviser to President Donald Trump, previously having worked as the physician to the president from 2013 to 2018 under both Presidents Barack Obama and Trump. He also served as director of the White House Medical Unit from 2010 to 2014.
In his physician’s note, Jackson stated that he has been with Trump since the shooting, evaluating and treating his wound daily. He reported that the former president “is doing well.”
Jackson noted that the bullet, which came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head,” caused a “2 cm wound” on Trump’s right ear. The area bled and there was “marked swelling of the entire upper ear,” which has since been resolved. He said the “the wound is beginning to granulate and heal properly.”
“Based on the highly vascular nature of the ear, there is still intermittent bleeding requiring a dressing to be in place,” Jackson added in his update.
Jackson applauded and thanked the medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital for providing immediate care and evaluation of the former president, including a CT scan of his head. He noted that the presidential candidate will undergo “further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed.”
This evening, Trump is set to speak at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, marking his first public campaign rally since the assassination attempt and his first alongside his newly named running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance. Jackson said he will remain at the former president’s side throughout the weekend.
“In summary, former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon. I am extremely thankful his life was spared. It is an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed,” Jackson wrote.
