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Reuters

Former US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote him a note after the Republican presidential nominee suffered a gunshot wound to his ear during an assassination attempt last week.
“[Xi] wrote me a beautiful note the other day when he heard about what happened,” Trump told a crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in his first campaign rally since narrowly escaping the July 13 assassination attempt.
Trump mentioned Xi’s letter while discussing his economic policy toward China during his presidency, adding: “I got along very well with President Xi.”
The former US president also referenced messages from other world leaders following the shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.


Trump, who called for national unity in a speech on Thursday as he accepted his party’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention, made no mention of that in his remarks before a raucous crowd on Saturday.
He frequently mocked Democratic US President Joe Biden as feeble. He derided senior Democrats, including Pelosi, for trying to persuade Biden to end his re-election bid.
Referring to Pelosi, Trump said: “She’s turned on him like a dog. She’s as crazy as a bed bug.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump comparing Pelosi to a dog.
Fresh from his nominating convention where his takeover of the Republican Party was cemented, Trump appeared in Grand Rapids with his new vice-presidential pick, Senator J.D. Vance from Ohio. They took the stage in their first campaign event together with the Republican Party unified behind them.
In contrast, it is no longer certain that US President Joe Biden will be the Democratic Party’s nominee facing Trump in the November 5 election.

Biden has faced calls from some senior Democrats to end his re-election bid after his poor debate performance last month raised concerns over whether he could beat Trump or complete another four-year term.
Trump attacked Democrats, saying they wanted to kick Biden off the ticket after he won their presidential nominating contest.
“They have a couple of problems. No 1, they have no idea who their candidate is,” Trump said to laughter and jeers. “This guy goes and he gets the votes and now they want to take it away.”
“As you’re seeing, the Democrat Party is not the party of democracy. They’re really the enemies of democracy.”
He added: “And they keep saying, ‘He’s a threat to democracy.’ I’m saying, ‘What the hell did I do for democracy?’
“Last week, I took a bullet for democracy.”
Trump referred to the assassination attempt several times on Saturday. “I hope I don’t have to go through that again. It was so horrible,” Trump said.

Opinion polls show a tight race between the Trump and Biden at a national level but Biden trailing Trump in the battleground states that are likely to determine the winner. Many Democrats fear he may not have a realistic path to victory and that the party needs a new candidate to take on Trump.
There was a heavy police presence at Trump’s rally in Grand Rapids on Saturday, with police on every street corner for several blocks. US Secret Service officers were positioned on the top balconies in the Van Andel Arena, giving them a bird’s-eye view of the crowd inside.
Bag searches for those entering the indoor arena earlier in the day were long and thorough, and the Secret Service sweep of the building took about an hour longer than usual.
The rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last weekend was outdoors. At that event, the gunman was able to scale the roof of a building outside the Secret Service perimeter before opening fire on Trump, clipping his ear, killing a rally-goer and wounding several others.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting Trump, declined to comment on security for the Grand Rapids event. An investigation is under way into the security failures at the Butler rally.
Trump gave a detailed account of his narrow brush with death in his convention speech on Thursday, telling the audience that he was only talking to them “by the grace of Almighty God”.
Trump’s former doctor, Ronny Jackson, said on Saturday that the former president is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound to his right ear, but noted intermittent bleeding and said Trump may require a hearing exam.
The bullet fired by the would-be assassin at the July 13 rally in Pennsylvania came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head,” said Jackson, a Republican congressman from Texas who had served as doctor to US Presidents Trump and Barack Obama.


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Donald Trump says China’s Xi Jinping wrote him a ‘beautiful note’ after assassination attempt

Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump wears a flesh-coloured bandage on his ear as he holds a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Republican US vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance attends his first joint rally with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Police officers stand guard in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Republican US presidential nominee is holding a campaign rally on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Bullet was millimetres from entering Trump’s head, left 2cm wound, ex-White House doctor says

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Photo: TNS

The psychology behind Trump supporters’ fake ear bandages: ‘in this together’

People wear “bandages” on their ears as they watch on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 17. Photo: AFP

US former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wears a bandage on his ear after he was injured during an assassination attempt. Photo: AFP

Delegates wear an American flag over their right ear, instead of a bandage, during the Republican National Convention on July 18. Photo: AP

Trump and Vance’s ‘America first’: hawkish on China, more flexible on Russia

From left, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his wife Melania are joined on stage by his running mate Senator J.D.  Vance and his wife Usha at the end of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, late Thursday night. Photo: EPA-EFE

In an interview with Fox News, Vance marked China as the biggest threat to the US. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Trump at the close of the convention on Thursday night in Milwaukee. Photo: AFP

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The Republican US presidential candidate also mocked rival Biden as feeble and compared senior Democrat Pelosi to a dog


The Republican US presidential candidate also mocked rival Biden as feeble and compared senior Democrat Pelosi to a dog.
