Donald Trump Says It Was a 'Bloody Mess' When His Ear Was Struck During July 2024 Assassination Attempt: 'Not a Pleasant Experience'

Donald Trump shared a rare comment on what went through his head when Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate him during a Butler, Penn., rally on July 13, 2024.

The president spilled on the ordeal while being interviewed by boxer Jake Paul.

As the two discussed how the image of Trump raising his fist post-shooting went viral, Paul, 29, asked of the bullet nicking his ear, "Was it hot on your ear? Could you feel the bullet?"

"It had that throbbing feeling," the president, 79, recalled. "You knew there was something. It was a bloody mess."

"The ear bleeds more. I said, ‘Why is there so much blood?’ And the ear is a big bleeder, having to do with cartilage," he continued. "I don't want to go into it too much. It was bloody as h---."

Trump said he checked his ear to see what has happening, resulting in his hands being "loaded up" with blood.

"I said that’s either the biggest mosquito bite in history or I just got shot," he continued. "It was not a pleasant experience."

As OK! reported, Crooks was situated on a nearby rooftop when he fired eight shots at the POTUS, killing one audience member and injuring two others.

Within seconds, Trump's team returned fire, and Crooks was fatally shot.

After the shots were fired, the POTUS clasped his right ear as blood trickled down his face while security guards shielded him and tried to get him to duck down. Trump first put up a fist and chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight!" before he was removed from the scene.

It was later revealed that Crooks, 20, was on the Secret Service's radar 90 minutes before the violence broke out.

In exposed text messages, a counter-sniper wrote to a colleague at 4:26 p.m., "Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know."

"I’m just letting you know because you see me go out with my rifle and put it in my car so he knows you guys are up there sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit," he added.

At around 5 p.m., the guards were in the same building as Crooks, though he was on a floor below them.

"Kid learning around the building we are in. AGR I believe it is. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage," someone wrote. "FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him."

"Call it in to command and have a uniform check it out," another person responded.

At around 6 p.m., the men assumed Crooks had moved "away from the event," but instead, he had made his way to the roof and began shooting.

The FBI stated Crooks saw the assassination as a "target of opportunity," and a political motive was never revealed.