Trump campaign releases letter on shooting injury, treatment
NEW YORK — Donald Trump's campaign released an update on the former president's health on Saturday, one week after he survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The memo, from Texas Representative Ronny Jackson, who served as Trump's White House physician, offers new details about the Republican GOP nominee's injuries and the treatment he received in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
Jackson said Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a high-powered rifle that came "less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head and struck the top of his right ear."
The bullet track, he said, "produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear. There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear."
While the swelling has since resolved and the wound is beginning to heal properly, Jackson said Trump is experiencing intermittent bleeding, requiring the dressing that was on display at last week's Republican National Convention.
"Given the broad and blunt nature of the wound itself, no sutures were required," he wrote.
Trump was initially treated by medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital. According to Jackson, doctors "provided a thorough evaluation for additional injuries that included a CT of his head."
Trump, he said, "will have further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed. He will follow up with his primary care physician, as directed by the doctors that initially evaluated him," he wrote.
"In summary, former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon," he added.
The letter is the first official update about the former president's condition since the night of the shooting.
Jackson, a staunch Trump supporter and Trump's former doctor, said he met Trump in Bedminster, New Jersey, late Saturday after he returned from Pennsylvania.
He said he has been with Trump since that time, evaluating and treating his wound daily. That includes traveling with him Saturday to Michigan, where the former president held his first rally since the shooting, joined by his newly named running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
It is unclear whether Jackson is still a licensed doctor. A spokesperson for the congressman did not immediately provide a response and Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to questions.
The memo, from Texas Representative Ronny Jackson, who served as Trump's White House physician, offers new details about the Republican GOP nominee's injuries and the treatment he received in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
Jackson said Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a high-powered rifle that came "less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head and struck the top of his right ear."
The bullet track, he said, "produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear. There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear."
While the swelling has since resolved and the wound is beginning to heal properly, Jackson said Trump is experiencing intermittent bleeding, requiring the dressing that was on display at last week's Republican National Convention.
"Given the broad and blunt nature of the wound itself, no sutures were required," he wrote.
Trump was initially treated by medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital. According to Jackson, doctors "provided a thorough evaluation for additional injuries that included a CT of his head."
Trump, he said, "will have further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed. He will follow up with his primary care physician, as directed by the doctors that initially evaluated him," he wrote.
"In summary, former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon," he added.
The letter is the first official update about the former president's condition since the night of the shooting.
Jackson, a staunch Trump supporter and Trump's former doctor, said he met Trump in Bedminster, New Jersey, late Saturday after he returned from Pennsylvania.
He said he has been with Trump since that time, evaluating and treating his wound daily. That includes traveling with him Saturday to Michigan, where the former president held his first rally since the shooting, joined by his newly named running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
It is unclear whether Jackson is still a licensed doctor. A spokesperson for the congressman did not immediately provide a response and Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to questions.