Trump doesn’t ‘think about’ another assassination attempt
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 30, 2026.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he is not worried about another attempt on his life, following what prosecutors say is a third gunman’s assassination attempt on him at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 24.
“I’m not thinking about it,” Trump told a reporter at the White House when asked if he was worried about another assassination attempt.
“If that were the case, I wouldn’t be him,” the president said.
Trump also said he is not inclined to wear a bulletproof vest, as some have claimed.
“I don’t know if I can handle being 20 pounds heavier,” he said to laughter from administration officials and lawmakers in the Oval Office as he signed an executive order to create a new type of retirement account for workers who don’t have access to a 401(k) or other tax-advantaged workplace investment plan.
Trump narrowly escaped being assassinated by gunman Thomas Crooks at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
Crooks was killed by a Secret Service agent, but not before shooting into Trump’s right ear, killing bystander Corey Comperatore and seriously wounding two others.
Two months after that incident, on September 15, 2024, a Secret Service officer opened fire on another gunman hiding in bushes around the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. That man, Ryan Routh, was convicted in Florida federal court on September 23 of trying to assassinate Trump and other charges.
Routh is currently serving a life sentence.
