Trump sustained 2 cm-wide gunshot wound to ear, his former physician says

Former President Donald Trump was evaluated with a CT scan after he was grazed by a bullet and sustained a 2 cm-wide wound to his ear last week, according to a new memo from Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who previously served as his physician.

The memo, which Trump posted on his Truth Social account on Saturday, is directed to “concerned citizens of the United States” and comes one week after a shooter narrowly missed Trump as he gave a speech at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

While officials have not disclosed much information about the extent of Trump’s injuries after the bullet grazed his right ear, Jackson shared more specific details about Trump’s condition, writing that the bullet caused “significant bleeding” and “marked swelling” to the “cartilaginous surface of the ear.”

“The bullet passed, coming less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear,” Jackson wrote.

After Trump was wounded, he was treated at Butler Memorial Hospital, near the site of the rally, before being released later that night. Jackson said Trump will continue to be evaluated, including with hearing exams “as needed,” and will follow up with his primary care doctor.

Jackson, who examined Trump at his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, the night of the assassination attempt and says he has treated Trump daily since then, also provided some explanation for the large white ear bandage that Trump has worn since the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The dressing was required due to “intermittent bleeding” that has continued in the days since the shooting, Jackson wrote.

The Texas Republican, who served as Trump’s White House physician during his presidency, has maintained a close relationship with the former president and used that connection to launch a successful political bid of his own. During Trump’s presidency, Jackson faced allegations of drinking on the job, creating a hostile work environment and overprescribing pills — all of which he has denied.

The new details about the extent of Trump’s injuries on July 13 come two days after he described his personal experience of being wounded by gunfire during a speech at the RNC, where he formally received the Republican nomination.

“My hand was covered with blood,” Trump said of the moments just after shots rang out when he covered his ear as blood streaked red down his cheek. “Just absolutely blood all over the place. I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack. And in one movement proceeded to drop to the ground.”

The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service snipers immediately after firing an AR-15 from the top of a building just 400 feet from where Trump was speaking. Crooks also killed a rallygoer and injured two others, though his motive remains under investigation by the FBI.

“Former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon,” Jackson wrote in the memo. “... It is an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed.”