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‘God Spared Donald Trump:’ Last-Second Head Tilt Saved His Life

Michael Foust

It’s being called the head tilt that spared the life of former President Donald Trump. Others say it was divine intervention.

Trump was speaking at a rally Saturday in Butler, PA, when a gunman perched on a rooftop pointed a high-powered rifle at Trump, attempting to end the life of the presumptive Republican nominee. However, just before the bullet reached its mark, Trump tilted his head slightly to the right, causing the bullet to graze his right ear but causing no further damage, video of the incident shows. The bullet was less than an inch from landing in his brain. 

A picture from New York Times photographer Doug Mills captured the bullet mid-flight, a split-second after it hit Trump. The former president immediately grabbed his ear, blood running down his face. He survived.

  • “If you are a believer, you know that God spared Donald Trump for a reason,” New York Post journalist Miranda Devine wrote. 
  • “God protected President Trump,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote. 
  • Trump “was half an inch away from losing his life,” former Secret Service agent Tim Miller told Fox News. 
  • “I thank God that former President @realDonaldTrump is alive,” evangelist Franklin Graham wrote. 

The gunman was shot and killed by law enforcement, presumably by Secret Service agents. An attendee at the rally also was killed by the attempted assassin’s gunfire.

It was the first assassination attempt on a president or former president since 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot but survived. There were two attempts on the life of Gerald Ford while he was in office in the 1970s, although he was not shot. The last assassination attempt on a major presidential candidate was in 1968 when Democrat Robert F. Kennedy -- the brother of former President John F. Kennedy -- was shot and killed. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 while in office.   

Trump’s last-second head tilt may have spared his life and prevented the bullet from landing in his brain.

“Life sometimes hangs in the balance of a head tilt,” filmmaker Robby Starbuck wrote. “Without President Trump tilting his head at the last second, he’d be dead right now. Feels like divine intervention honestly.”

“Again, Trump's head is slightly moved to the right and the bullet goes through his temple,” New York Post columnist John Podhoretz wrote. 

Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, also saw divine intervention. Patrick said he texted Trump: “By the slightest turn of your head in a mere microsecond or the shield of a teleprompter, your life was spared by the Grace of a Merciful and Holy God. I shared with you not long ago, on our flight to Houston, that God has had his hand on you since you first ran for President. That I believe. 

“No man could survive all you have been through without the Grace of God upon you,” Patrick’s text to Trump read. “The Bible verse ‘And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?’ appears in the book of Esther 4:14. Praise God your life was spared ‘For such a time as this.’”

Also see: Trump Survives Assassination Attempt at PA Rally

Related Resource: Feeling Overwhelmed by the Stress of the Political Season?

In this episode of Breathe: The Stress Less Podcast, Bonnie explores practical ways to find peace and lower anxiety through the power of prayer. Learn to breathe in God’s loving word of affirmation and breathe out your stress with biblically-based soul-care techniques. Tune into this episode to discover how you can experience God’s peace and joy amidst real-life challenges and political turmoil.

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Anna Moneymaker / Staff

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.