Amid chaos and gunfire, Trump raised his fist and projected a characteristic image of defiance

NEW YORK (AP) — He was bleeding from the head after a barrage of bullets flew through his rally when Secret Service agents gave the go-ahead that it was safe to move from the stage.

But Donald Trump had something he needed to do.

“Wait, wait, wait!” the former president could be heard telling his agents, who had encircled him in a protective bubble and helped him to his feet.

Trump, his face smeared with blood, forced his right fist through a tangle of agents’ arms. He raised it high into the air before pumping his fist.

“Fight!” he mouthed to the crowd and cameras as he pumped his arm sharply three times, in a sign of undeniable defiance and assurance that he was OK. The gesture sent the crowd cheering, with many rising to their feet.

“We gotta move, we gotta move!" an agent shouted.

The moment was an extraordinary illustration of Trump's raw political instincts and of how keenly aware he is of the images he projects. Even during unimaginable chaos, Trump stopped and delivered his message, creating iconic photographs and video that are sure to become an indelible part of history.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump said that when he looked up and saw that the crowd hadn't left, he felt he needed to offer assurance and project strength.

“The energy coming from the people there in that moment, they just stood there. It's hard to describe what that felt like, but I knew the world was looking, I knew that history would judge this and I knew I had to let them know we are OK,” he said.

Trump has always paid close attention to imagery, aware of his facial expressions, his clothing and camera angles during interviews.

The mug shot he took in Atlanta — in which he glared at the camera — was seared immediately into the collective memory and emblazoned on campaign T-shirts, posters and other merchandise.

During his criminal hush money trial in New York, Trump would mug for the cameras, looking stern and angry, when photographers were led in for a minute each day to document history. As soon as they left, his expression typically relaxed.

After he tested positive for the coronavirus in 2020, Trump refused to let on how sick he really was, according to a book by his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. And after his release from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he received intense treatment, Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House, emerging from Marine One and climbing the South Portico steps.

On the balcony, he removed his mask and gave a double thumbs-up to the departing helicopter at sunset, American flags arranged behind him.

In her book “Confidence Man,” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote that Trump had considered an even more dramatic scene in which he “would be wheeled out of Walter Reed in a chair” and, once outside, “would dramatically stand up, then open his button-down dress shirt to reveal” another with a “Superman logo beneath it.”

Trump said in a social media post Saturday night that he “knew immediately that something was wrong” when he “heard a whizzing sound, shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin."

A bullet had pierced the upper part of his right ear, Trump said later.

He crouched behind his lectern as agents rushed the stage and piled atop him.

When they gave the all-clear that the shooter was down, Trump could be heard telling his agents several times to “let me get my shoes” as they tried to quickly usher him to safety,

While he was led across the stage, he held his arm in the air and vigorously pumped it again — so violently one agent seemed to duck to avoid being hit by his elbow — before he was helped down the steps.

The crowd erupted into chants of “USA!”

As he climbed into his SUV, he raised it high one last time before his agents closed the bulletproof door behind him.

For supporters in the crowd, Trump's response gave them assurance that he would not back down.

Jondavid Longo, the mayor of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, who was sitting in the front row when the shots began, said he jumped to shield his wife, made sure no one in his immediate vicinity had a firearm, then started yelling for others to get down.

“I was making sure everybody was OK and then I kept looking at the president, of course, because I had just seen the president get shot,” Longo said. “I saw him grab his ear. Then I saw the Secret Service pounce on top of him. I saw them bringing him up. I saw blood on the right side of his head."

Soon after, he said, Trump “put his fist in the air. He let us know he was OK, and they escorted him away. It was just incredible."

Kristen Petrarca, 60, said she is a Democrat, but supports Trump and wanted to experience one of his rallies. She and a group of friends arrived early and she got a seat in the bleachers behind Trump.

Suddenly, she heard gunshots: “Pop, pop, pop, pop," she said during a Zoom interview from a nearby hotel hours after the attack.

She watched as Trump grabbed his ear and the Secret Service agents rushed the podium. She saw the former president raise his fist in the air as blood streamed from his ear.

“I didn’t feel that he was scared. He was angry, he was mad,” she said. “He wanted to fight, and he wanted us to fight.”

__ Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Amid chaos and gunfire, Trump raised his fist and projected a characteristic image of defiance

Amid chaos and gunfire, Trump raised his fist and projected a characteristic image of defiance

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surround by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Brian Harman survived 30 mph wind by playing the final 13 holes without a bogey, giving him an even-par 72 and a three-shot lead in a Valero Texas Open so difficult that only six players managed to break par.

Harman had his chance to join them until narrowly missing a 12-foot birdie attempt on the final hole at the TPC San Antonio.

He was more than satisfied to finish with his first 54-hole lead since he won the British Open two years ago at Royal Liverpool. That also was his last victory, and Harman has a great chance to end that drought.

“Just a tough day, man,” Harman said. “When you get around this place and the wind blows and the pins are tucked, it’s just a really hard day.”

He was at 12-under 204, three shots clear of Andrew Novak (69), with Tom Hoge (68) another shot behind going into the final round. Keith Mitchell had a 73 and was five behind. Mitchell and Novak need to win to get into the Masters next week.

Novak also is looking for his first PGA Tour title, and he has a wall to thank for his chances.

He hit 5-iron well to the right on the par-3 16th hole. It hit the wall below the grandstands and bouncing into the rough and onto the green about 5 feet for a most unlikely birdie.

“Obviously, not a great shot, but I know if it’s over there, there’s some space, it can be OK,” Novak said. “I didn’t expect it to kick back and go on the green. That was obviously ridiculous. Not the best swing and sometimes golf rewards you.”

There were not many rewards on this day, with a wind out of the opposite direction. No one could reach two of the par 5s on the Oaks course, and the average score was nearly two shots over par.

Harman was 2 over for his round when he made a pair of late birdies from the bunker, on the par-5 14th and the reachable par-4 17th.

Mitchell also made birdie on those holes, which spoke to the difficulty of the wind and the back nine and challenge facing everything.

“That (17) and 14 were really the only two birdie chances we had all day,” Mitchell said. “Everything else you were just trying to find a green, trying to find a way to just stop the ball. Just wish I was a little closer to Brian. He made two birdies coming in. Still got a chance.”

Hoge might have had the most remarkable round because he didn't post a single bogey. He was in the second group to tee off and noticed right away it was going to a challenge, not so much the crackle of the flags but the hard bounces on the green. Into the wind, or with the wind at the players' back, it wasn't easy to get anything close.

The wind came out of an opposite direction from the previous two rounds.

“Just tried to make as many pars as I could,” Hoge said. “Even the downwind holes right off the start on hole 1, I had a 56-degree wedge, I wasn’t sure I could hit the green with it because it was bouncing that much when I did land the green.”

Mitchell got the bounce and roll just right on the 10th hole when his ball stopped inches away for an easy birdie, and he holed a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet on the 12th. Hoge also birdied the 14th and 17th holes, the two easiest for scoring in the third round.

Only three other holes played under par.

Sam Ryder, who started with a 63, had eight 5s on his card and posted a 77 to go from playing in the final group to being out of contention.

Patrick Cantlay ended the front nine with a pair of bogeys, both times missing par putts from 5 feet or closer, and shot 74 to finish eight shots behind. Jordan Spieth was in the group another shot behind after a 73.

Harman could easily slid back to the pack as tough as it was on the front nine. He hit a great chip to a foot on the par-3 seventh, saved par from a bunker on the par-5 eighth and escaped with par on the ninth with a 6-foot putt.

“Just leaning on my short game today, chipped it in there close a few times,” Harman said. “The stat sheet won’t say it, but I made some solid par putts — 5-footers, 6-footers, 8-footers — that don't show up as pretty. But they sure keep your round alive.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Brian Harman tees off on the 10th hole during the first round of the Texas Open golf tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photos/Rodolfo Gonzalez)