Trump’s Health Update: Gunshot Wound to Right EarTrump’s Health Update: Gunshot Wound to Right Ear A week after surviving an attempted assassination, former President Donald Trump has provided an update on his health. A memo from his former White House physician, Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, reveals new details about the nature of his injuries and treatment. Gunshot Wound to the Ear Jackson reports that Trump suffered a gunshot wound to his right ear caused by a high-powered weapon. The bullet narrowly missed his head and struck the top of his right ear, causing a 2cm wide wound that extended to the cartilage surface. Initial bleeding was significant, followed by marked swelling. Treatment and Recovery Doctors at Butler Memorial Hospital initially treated Trump and conducted a CT scan of his head to check for additional injuries. The wound has since begun to granulate and heal, but Trump still experiences occasional bleeding, requiring a bandage. Sutures were not necessary due to the blunt nature of the wound. Trump is expected to undergo further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, if needed. He will follow up with his primary care physician as directed by the initial evaluators. Overall Condition Jackson states that Trump is doing well and recovering as expected from the gunshot wound. The former president is scheduled to hold his first rally since the shooting in Michigan, along with his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. This is the first official update on Trump’s condition since the night of the shooting. Jackson, a staunch Trump supporter, emphasizes his deep concern for the former president’s well-being and has been assessing and treating his wound daily.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign provided an update on the former president’s health Saturday, a week after he survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The memo from Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as Trump’s White House physician, provides new details about the nature of the Republican candidate’s injuries and the treatment he received immediately after the attack.
According to Jackson, Trump suffered a gunshot wound to his right ear from a high-powered weapon that “came less than a quarter inch from his head and struck the top of his right ear.”
The bullet trajectory, he said, “caused a 2cm wide wound extending to the cartilage surface of the ear. There was significant initial bleeding followed by marked swelling of the entire upper portion of the ear.”
Although the swelling has now gone down and the wound is “starting to granulate and heal nicely,” he said Trump still experiences occasional bleeding, requiring the bandage seen at last week’s Republican National Convention. At Saturday’s event, the white gauze on Trump’s ear was replaced with a flesh-colored bandage.
“Given the wide and blunt nature of the wound itself, sutures were not necessary,” Jackson wrote.
Trump was initially treated by medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital. According to Jackson, doctors “conducted a thorough evaluation for additional injuries, including a CT scan of his head.”
Trump, he said, “will undergo further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, if necessary. He will follow up with his primary care physician as directed by the physicians who initially evaluated him,” he wrote.
“In short, former President Trump is doing well and is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound he sustained last Saturday afternoon,” he added.
The letter is the first official update on the former president’s condition since the night of the shooting.
Jackson, a staunch Trump supporter, wrote in the letter that as Trump’s former physician, he was deeply concerned about the former president’s well-being following the attack and that he met with him Saturday night in Bedminster, New Jersey, after Trump returned from Pennsylvania “to personally visit with him and offer him my assistance in every way possible.”
He said he has been with Trump since then, assessing and treating his wound daily. That includes traveling with him to Michigan on Saturday, where the former president will hold his first rally since the shooting, along with his recently named running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
A spokesperson for the congressman did not immediately comment, and the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to questions.
Last year, on President Joe Biden’s 81st birthday, Trump’s campaign released a letter from Dr. Bruce A. Aronwald, a New Jersey physician who said he had been the former president’s physician since 2021.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Jackson’s emergency certification was valid until the end of 2015. It is valid until the end of 2025.
___ Associated Press writer Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report.
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