Donald Trump returns to Pennsylvania assassination attempt site for huge rally with Vance, Elon Musk

Former President Donald Trump returns to Butler, Pennsylvania, fulfilling a promise after surviving an assassination attempt.

Former President Donald Trump plans to return on Saturday (October 5, 2024) to the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, setting aside what are now near-constant worries for his physical safety in order to fulfill a promise — “really an obligation,” he said recently — to the people of Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I'll probably start off by saying, 'As I was saying ...,'” the Republican Presidential nominee has joked, in a bit of black humour about a speech cut short when a bullet struck Mr. Trump's ear and he was whisked off stage — fist aloft — with blood dripping across his face.

Mr. Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance will also be on hand at the Butler Farm Show grounds, as will billionaire Elon Musk, as the campaign elevates the headline-generating potential of his return with just 30 days to go in their tight campaign against Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

The campaign is predicting that tens of thousands of people will attend what is being pitched as a "tribute to the American spirit.” Local hotels, motels and inns are reportedly full and some eager rallygoers already arrived on Friday ( October 4, 2024) according to a local Facebook page.

“President Trump looks forward to returning to Butler, Pennsylvania to honour the victims from that tragic day," said Mr. Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. "The willingness of Pennsylvanians to join President Trump in his return to Butler represents the strength and resiliency of the American people.”

Mr. Trump will use the 5 p.m. eastern time event to remember Corey Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter struck and killed at the July 13 rally, and to recognise the two other rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. Mr. Trump and the two were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.

How Crooks managed to outmaneuver law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-President is among myriad questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive, which has never been determined.