King Charles writes letter of support for Donald Trump after alleged assassin shot him in the ear at rally

KING Charles wrote a letter of support for Donald Trump after he was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania.

The former US president yesterday classified Saturday’s assassination attempt as a “very surreal experience”.

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Defiant Donald Trump dodged an assassin’s bullet by sheer luck, turning his head at “the exact moment” and said yesterday: “I should be dead.”

The former US president said the shooter’s bullet only grazed his ear rather than going through his skull due to what he assessed as a 1,000-to-one stroke of luck.

His comments came as Buckingham Palace confirmed yesterday that King Charles had written a private letter to Trump offering his support following the attack.

Yesterday, more details continued to emerge about Saturday’s attempted assassination at a Republican rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Police revealed that gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 – who was shot to death – purchased 50 rounds of ammunition at a local gun store just hours earlier.

Video footage emerged of rally attendees pointing out Crooks on the roof to police before he fired at Trump shortly after 6 p.m. local time.

Witnesses also saw a police officer trying to climb onto the roof of the building where the shooter was lying, before letting go and falling to avoid being shot.

Questions continued to be asked about the errors, as the analysis showed how Trump saved himself by chance, moving his head slightly to look at a graph showing illegal immigration numbers in the US.

As he did so, Crooks fired his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle — meaning the bullet went through the top of the 45th president’s ear, not his skull.

The bloodied Trump, who was belatedly thrown to the ground by security, said: “The amazing thing was that I happened to not just turn, but turn at the exact moment and the right amount.

“If I turn around, it hits the back of the brain. The other route goes straight through [the skull]. And since the sign was high, I’m looking up.

“The chances of me making a perfect turn are probably a tenth of one percent – ​​so I shouldn’t be here.”

Trump was wearing a red Make America Great Again baseball cap while at the podium when the bullet hit his ear.

Former fire chief Corey Compatore, 50, was struck and killed while shielding his family from the gunfire. Two others were injured.

In a second interview yesterday, while flying on a private jet to Milwaukee for a national convention, Trump called the assassination attempt a “very surreal experience.”

He said: “The doctor at the hospital said he had never seen anything like it, he called it a miracle.

Fist in defiance

“I shouldn’t be here, I should be dead.”

Trump, who apparently had a large white bandage covering his injured right ear on the “no photo” flight, explained why he was heard asking about his shoes.

The 78-year-old tycoon, who still tried to participate in the demonstration while Secret Service officers surrounded him, said: “The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off and are tight.”

As he was led away, the Republican presidential candidate raised his fist in defiance and was heard shouting “fight” three times.

Referring to the photos of the moment, he said: “A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen. They’re right – and I didn’t die. Normally you have to die to have an iconic image.

“I just wanted to keep talking, but I just got shot. By luck or by God, a lot of people are saying it’s by God, I’m still here.”

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Trump also praised the Secret Service agents for shooting Crooks.

He said: “They shot him dead between the eyes. They did a fantastic job. It’s surreal for all of us.”

He said he planned to speak to Comperatore’s relatives — and attend his funeral — as well as visit the injured and talk to their families.

He said, “Get the numbers, I want to go to the hospital and call all the families.”

Lone gunman Crooks fired from a rooftop about 400 feet from where Trump was standing, but outside a secure perimeter where everyone was searched.

Crooks, from the neighboring Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park, was “neutralized” by Secret Service snipers seconds later.

Officer, he’s on the roof – why? Right here, guy on the roof

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Armed police officers were seen standing over his body.

The Secret Service set up a supposedly secure perimeter around the rally, while local police manned the building used by Crooks.

Footage emerged yesterday showing bystanders pointing out the gunman minutes before the attack.

A man was heard saying: “Someone has climbed onto the roof – do you see him lying down?”

And a woman shouts: “Officer, he’s on the roof – why? Right here, guy on the roof.

Crooks is believed to have used a ladder to climb up and was also seen “acting strangely” on the roof and pacing back and forth.

Bystander Mike DiFrischia, who took video, said: “They (police) looked at us and said, ‘Where is he?’ A police officer tried to climb to the top of the building. . . he let go and fell to the ground.”

Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said, “The deputy placed both hands on the roof to stand up. . . I never did because the shooter turned to the officer and, rightly so, the officer let him go.

“This individual should not have accessed that location to have line of sight with his rifle. It is completely unacceptable.”

The FBI said Crooks, who had bomb-making materials in his car, acted alone.

Someone has climbed onto the roof – do you see him lying down?

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They said his motive was unclear for what they described as a case of domestic terrorism.

Meanwhile, Trump was inundated with messages of goodwill – including from his Democratic election rival, President Joe Biden, along with those from King Charles, whose message was delivered through the UK Embassy in Washington, DC.

Also yesterday, Trump scored a major victory after a judge ruled that prosecutors did not have the authority to bring a case alleging he mishandled classified documents upon leaving office in 2021.

He would face decades in prison if convicted.

The former president took advantage of the news to insist that three other “witch hunts” against him should be abandoned.

He said, “The Democratic justice department coordinated all of these political attacks, which are an election interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s political opponent, me.”