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When and how did Donald Trump reportedly sustain an ear injury?
Executive summary
Donald Trump was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024; multiple outlets report the bullet grazed or nicked the upper part of his right ear, produced significant bleeding, and left him wearing a bandage in public appearances afterward [1] [2] [3]. Campaign statements from Rep. Ronny Jackson described a roughly 2 cm wound from a high‑powered rifle that “came less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head,” but independent hospital records or a full official medical report were not released in the immediate aftermath [4] [3] [5].
1. The incident: when and where the injury happened
Witnesses, contemporaneous reporting and later summaries place the shooting on July 13, 2024, at an open‑air Trump campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, where a shooter on a rooftop fired multiple rounds; Trump was immediately hustled off the stage after being struck in the upper right ear [2] [1]. News organizations described visible bleeding at the scene and photos from the event showed Trump with blood on his face as he left the stage [1] [6].
2. How Trump and his team described the wound
The Trump campaign released a memo from Rep. Ronny Jackson stating that Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a “high‑powered rifle” that struck the top of his right ear and skirted “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head,” with a 2 cm‑wide wound noted in some accounts [4] [3]. Eric Trump later said his father called it “the greatest earache he’s ever had” and that stitches were not required and hearing was intact, per CBS reporting cited by TIME [7].
3. Independent expert commentary and medical gaps
Emergency and trauma experts who spoke to outlets emphasized the need to rule out deeper injury — for example to the brain or neck — and said a CT scan would be appropriate, while also noting that externally the wound appeared relatively minor [8]. However, journalists and media watchdogs pointed out there was no full, detailed medical report from the treating hospital or an independent attending physician in the immediate days after the shooting, leaving unanswered questions about diagnostics and precise treatment [5] [8].
4. Public appearance and visual evidence
In the days and weeks after July 13, Trump made public appearances wearing a visible bandage on his right ear (notably at the Republican National Convention), which journalists reported and photographed [1] [3]. Some later images showing little or no visible scarring provoked online debate and conspiracy theories about the nature of the injury; fact‑checkers cautioned that some viral posts used older photos to claim “nothing wrong” with his ear, which those posts misrepresented [6] [9].
5. Conflicting narratives and political context
Reporting shows two main narratives: campaign disclosures (via Ronny Jackson and Trump statements) that the wound was a gunshot grazing the ear and expert assessments treating it as a potentially serious but superficially located injury [4] [3] [8]; and online skepticism or conspiracies amplified by photos and commentary that question the severity or authenticity of the injury [6] [9]. Media watchdogs stressed that lack of an independent, full medical release fueled speculation and conspiracy theories across the political spectrum [5] [2].
6. What authoritative sources do and don’t say
Available reporting documents the shooting, the visible bleeding on July 13, the bandage in subsequent public appearances, and campaign letters describing a gunshot grazing his ear [1] [3] [4]. Available sources do not mention a publicly released, comprehensive hospital medical report from attending physicians detailing imaging, operative notes or lab results in the immediate days after the attack; Poynter and other outlets explicitly note the absence of an official full medical statement at the time [5].
7. Takeaway and why the gap matters
The best‑sourced timeline says Trump was grazed by a bullet at the July 13, 2024 rally and treated such that he appeared in public with a bandage thereafter; campaign memos described a near‑miss to the skull [2] [4] [3]. The lack of complete, independently released medical documentation allowed visual ambiguity and social‑media recycling of old photos to amplify skepticism and conspiracy claims, which fact‑checkers and news outlets have repeatedly flagged [6] [5].
Limitations: this summary uses only the supplied reporting and fact checks; for any clinical specifics not covered in those pieces, available sources do not mention further medical records or confirmations beyond the campaign’s released memos and expert general commentary [3] [4] [8].