Trump’s Ear ‘Hit by a Bullet’: Confusion and Speculation Continue
Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Joe Raedle
New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi visited Mar-a-Lago for an interview with former President Donald Trump and received an unexpected close-up of his right ear. The focus on this seemingly minor detail stems from an attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, where Trump’s son, Eric Trump, claimed that the shooter “took off half” of his father’s ear. The incident left many questioning the extent of the injury.
While the story gained attention, some, including a Republican lawmaker, raised concerns about whether the full details of the injury were being kept from the public. “Trump has posted that his ear was pierced by a bullet, but the sad fact is that he’s an unreliable source. News organizations need to wait for more credible confirmation of what happened,” journalist Steven Beschloss commented at the time, echoing the sentiments of others seeking transparency.
Nuzzi’s visit to Trump’s residence, three weeks after the shooting, offers some insight into the mystery surrounding the former president’s ear. She observed, “An ear had never before been so important, so burdened,” and suggested that this minor injury represented a divide between normal political events and the violence that could disrupt democracy.
However, Nuzzi’s description of the injury implied that the situation was less severe than originally portrayed. “Yet an ear had never appeared to have gone through less,” she wrote. “Except there, on the tiniest patch of this tiny sculpture of skin, a minor distortion that resembled not a crucifixion wound but the distant aftermath of a sunburn.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Trump’s former White House physician, described the injury in more detail, calling it “kind of a half-moon shape,” adding that there was “nothing to stitch.” According to Jackson, the bullet had only “scooped” a small portion of skin and fat from the top of Trump’s ear.
“By which he did not mean to imply that Trump has especially fat ears,” Nuzzi noted humorously. Jackson clarified, “Everybody has fat and skin on top of their ears. He’s got good ears.” Following the shooting, Trump was seen with a bandage over his ear at the Republican National Convention, though he reportedly removed it shortly after due to being a “fast healer.”
Photographer Pete Souza also chimed in on the debate, posting a photo of Trump’s ear without the bandage after the incident. “I was perplexed by photos online of Trump boarding his plane en route to a Bitcoin conference,” Souza wrote. His post on Twitter attracted such an “ugly” response that he eventually left the platform for Threads. The incident continues to fuel speculation and debate.
