Reaction & Commentary
President Donald Trump said he still wants answers seven months after an assassination attempt on his life during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I want to find the answers,” the president said during an executive order signing in the White House Thursday. “I’ve told them. … We can no longer blame [former President Joe] Biden for that one. He should have released that a long time ago.”
Gunman Thomas Crooks, 20, killed rally attendee Corey Comperatore and critically wounded two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, in his attempt to kill Trump, who was grazed in the ear by a bullet.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is rushed offstage after getting shot during a rally July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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The investigation summary concluded the rally was a “failure for the Secret Service” that warranted “several operational, policy, and organizational changes.”
Two months later, Trump survived a second assassination attempt while golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Ryan Routh allegedly tried to assassinate Trump and remains in federal custody.
During a Q&A session with the media Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy he would be receiving a report about both incidents sometime next week.
“I want to release it,” Trump noted.
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“[Crooks] had three [cellphone] apps, two of which were foreign, supposedly, and who has the biggest white-shoe law firm in Pennsylvania, even though they don’t live in necessarily a white-shoe area,” Trump speculated. “What’s that all about?”
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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He added that Routh, 58, allegedly had numerous cellphones.
“The other one had seven or six cellphones, and I don’t have six cellphones,” Trump said. “Why would somebody have six cellphones. So, we’re going to be releasing a report on that soon. … It’s a lot of cellphones, and a couple of them had some strange markings on them.”
Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr., right, of the U.S. Secret Service addresses the media at a news conference with updates on the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sept. 16, 2024. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
Pointing to a lack of information about the incidents, the president said “it makes me think a little bit.”
“I say when you have three apps and two of them are foreign, and you had an FBI that wouldn’t report on it — they didn’t want to say why — I would say that could be suspicious,” Trump said.
He also took the time to highlight the Secret Service’s efforts to intercept Routh, who was spotted allegedly aiming a rifle at one of Trump’s security details in bushes.
Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh on police bodycam footage being taken into custody Sept. 15, 2024, in Florida. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office )
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“I want to find out, and I would be willing to release it,” Trump said. “I mean, maybe there’s a reason that we shouldn’t. So, I don’t want to get too far ahead of my skis. But, yeah, I would be very willing to release that. … I want to see that one myself.”
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
