Trump Drops Deranged New Theory Behind Butler Shooting
The president is rejecting what even his own handpicked FBI officials have told him about his near-death experience.
Cathal McNaughton/REUTERS
President Donald Trump has cooked up a wild new conspiracy about his 2024 assassination attempt that contradicts his own handpicked officials.
Trump says that there was a “Democratic plot” to shoot him dead in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign rally on July 13, 2024—a bombshell claim not backed up by facts.
The president revealed his deranged theory on Truth Social.
Truth Social
“This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump, 80, claims that the FBI proceeded to cover up that Thomas Matthew Crooks—who was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper after firing eight shots at Trump, one grazing his ear and another killing a rally attendee—was hired by Democrats to kill him. The president provided no proof for the outlandish claim.
Trump pumps his fist after being shot by a gunman in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
In reality, both FBI Director Kash Patel and then-Deputy Director Dan Bongino—a pair of Trump appointees—told Fox News in November 2025 that the 20-year-old Crooks acted alone. They said that they personally delivered this same information to Trump.
“We fully briefed the president, as a victim of this case, at the White House, providing him with all of the details of our investigation, and the president was satisfied with the results and where we left it,” Patel said.
The shooting during Trump's campaign rally killed one spectator, injured two others, and left him bloodied on stage before he was rushed away by Secret Service agents.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Bongino, known for embracing wild conspiracies himself, said he reviewed the “case over and over, looked into every nugget,” and still determined there was “no cover-up here.” He was adamant that conspiracy theories like those the president is now pushing.
“I would ask the public: What motivation would Kash Patel and Dan Bongino possibly have to hide from their personal friend, not just their boss, the president, information about a crime where he was the victim?” Bongino said. “I don’t understand what the motivation would be.”
That did not stop Trump from spiraling into conspiracy mode at 11:28 a.m. on Tuesday
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“Everybody knows the Crooked Joe Biden FBI didn’t do what they should have with respect to the Lunatic who shot me in Butler, PA,” Trump posted then. “By the time I got into Office, on January 20th, most of the information was missing, altered, corrupted, or gone.”
Trump continued, “New info was just found! Why wasn’t it seen long ago? This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed. Dirty Cop Christopher Wray should pay a price for the way he handled this assassination attempt, and certainly for the things he said.”
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