Times reporters and photographers were among the first to report the assassination attempt on Trump, and continued breaking news in the days that followed, frequently making revelations ahead of conclusions by law enforcement agencies. From the moment a gunman opened fire on Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., July 13—all through that night, and over the ensuing days and weeks—The New York Times delivered exclusive reporting that illuminated and contextualized.
Minutes after shots rang out in Butler, Pa., The Times broke the news that it was an attempt to assassinate Trump. With updates from the scene, articles, photos, graphics and video, our live blog kept up in real time (scroll from the bottom to experience chronologically).
Times’ photographer Doug Mills, who has covered presidents for 40 years, was the only photographer to capture what appeared to be the bullet that had just grazed Trump’s ear streaking past him. Then, Mills not only captured the iconic image of Trump defiantly pumping his fist, he also captured what came next: Trump’s face went blank and pale. He filed the images to the Times newsroom within seconds, and they were published on the Times’ site just 16 minutes after the shots were fired. By 12:59 a.m., The Times had verified that a photograph by Mills had captured a bullet whizzing past Trump, remarkable and exclusive documentary evidence of how close a call it had been.
At 11:29 that evening came the Times’ video and audio analysis showing that the gunman had fired eight shots in two bursts, from a roof 400 feet from where Trump was speaking. And by 9:36pm on the evening of the shooting, the Times had published a visual timeline of the events of the day, detailing and synthesizing reporting on the event as it unfolded.
The morning after the shooting, Doug appeared in a first-person video during which he narrated his experience as an eyewitness.
