Was Trump really shot in the chest? No, these images of the assassination attempt are fake or misleading

If you only have a minute:

• Since the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13 during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, there have been a large number of fake or misleading photos and videos circulating online. 
• One of these photos, which has garnered more than 600,000 views on X, shows members of the Secret Service grinning widely as they try to protect Trump in the midst of the attack. However, the photo was doctored. In the original photo taken by the news agency Associated Press, the Secret Service officers who protect US presidents weren’t laughing.
• One photo, which has garnered more than 4 million views on X, is a zoomed-in image of Donald Trump standing on the stage covered in blood. It looks as if a bullet has pierced the chest of his suit. However, if you look at the original photo, then you can see that what looks like a hole in the zoomed-in image is actually just a fold in the uniform of one of his bodyguards.  
• A post on X, which has since garnered more than 7 million views, claims that Trump was looking at the Secret Service agent behind him ahead of the attack. But Trump told his doctor that he was actually looking at a screen to his right, according to several articles published in US media.  

The fact check, in detail: 

Former US president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump received a bullet wound to the ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Since then, photos and videos of the assassination attempt have circulated around the world. 

In the hours following the attack, photos and videos – captured by journalists and civilian onlookers – started appearing online. But some of the images said to document the assassination attempt were either doctored or taken out of context. The FRANCE 24 Observers team takes a look at three of these. 

No, the Secret Service agents weren’t smiling during the attack 

A photo showing Secret Service agents protecting Trump during the attack circulated widely on social media in its aftermath.

However, a modified version of the image also went viral. In this doctored version, two of the Secret Service agents grin widely while evacuating Trump. A post featuring the doctored image garnered more than 600,000 views on this English-language X account, which shared it on July 14 along with a caption that read: "Why are they all smiling?!!!"

However, this pro-Biden account has a history of circulating fake and misleading information about Trump in the past.

And, it turns out, the photo has been doctored. We carried out a reverse image search (check out our handy guide to find out how) and discovered that the original photo was first posted on the AP Newsroom website, which is the image bank for the US news agency, the Associated Press. It was taken by photographer Evan Vucci. In the original image, none of the agents are smiling. There are also other images showing the same moment from different angles, like a photo taken by photographer Anna Moneymaker, which appears on Getty Images. This photo confirms that no one was smiling while they were trying to protect Trump from the assassination attempt.

No, Trump wasn’t shot in the chest

Other social media accounts shared a photo of Trump claiming that he had been shot in the chest.

"Trump just started wearing a bulletproof vest as advised by his security detail. It saved his life!! He took a shot to the chest!!” reads a tweet on this X account that features the zoomed-in photo of Trump where he seemingly has a bullet hole in the chest. The post garnered more than 4 million views. 

However, when we searched several press agency photo banks with just the keyword “Trump”, we, once again, quickly found the original photo. This one was also taken by photographer Evan Vucci for the AP on July 13.

However, you can see in the original image that what looks like a bullet hole in the zoomed-in version is actually just a shadow cast by the fold in the jacket of one of the Secret Service agents evacuating him. 

No, Trump didn’t look at Secret Service agents ahead of the attack 

"Why was Donald Trump staring up at the Secret Service (?) sniper before he was shot? Odd,” reads a tweet posted on X the morning of July 14, which has since been viewed 7 million times. 

This account shared an 11-second video that shows Trump turning his head to the right. It looks as if he sees the sniper who is located on a roof in this direction.  

However, Trump isn’t actually looking at the sniper, who was actually positioned behind him. In reality, he is looking at a giant screen. 

It isn’t visible in the video but it was located to the right of Trump. You can see it in other images of the scene, including aerial images captured by the American channel Fox54 (see below).

When the attack occurred, the screen was showing a graphic about illegal immigration to the United States. 

Trump told his doctor that this chart had "saved his life”, as was reported by several different US media outlets. 

"I was going over that border patrol chart. If I hadn’t pointed at that chart and turned my head to look at it, that bullet would have hit me right in the head,” Trump apparently told his doctor. 

The bullet grazed Trump’s right ear when he turned his head towards the screen. 

This image shows that, while on stage, Trump (circled in blue below) was indeed looking at the screen to his right (circled in red) and not the sniper, located on the roof behind him (circled in yellow).

In a video showing the moment, just a few minutes before shots ring out, Trump does indeed mention a chart from a few months ago. 

In other videos filmed of the moment, you can see that the chart appears on both the screen to Trump’s right as well as on a screen to the left of the stage.  

Fake news items about the gunman’s identity 

In the hours after the attack, there were also a lot of fake news items circulating about the identity and motives of the would-be assassin.

Read moreNo, this photo and video do not show the gunman who tried to assassinate Trump