House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) revealed a photo of himself standing with Donald Trump smiling and giving a thumbs up after the former president survived an apparent assassination attempt at his golf club in Florida on Sunday.
In a post to X, Johnson said he and his wife Kelly were just departing Trump’s nearby Mar-a-Lago resort, “where we just spent a few hours with President Trump and are thanking God for protecting him today — once again.”
Johnson added, in addition to sharing photos of them standing with Trump and a sunset peaking through the clouds, “No leader in American history has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient. He is unstoppable.”
Kelly and I are departing Mar-a-Lago, where we just spent a few hours with President Trump and are thanking God for protecting him today—once again. No leader in American history has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient. He is unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/43Rm8SPGU8
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) September 15, 2024
Trump’s campaign announced Sunday afternoon that Trump was “safe following gunshots in his vicinity.” The FBI later said it was responding to West Palm Beach to investigate “what appears to be an attempted assassination” of Trump.
Secret Service personnel opened fire on a man who poked a rifle muzzle through a fence around Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club where he was hitting the links, officials said, after which the suspect fled and was later detained by police.
CNN reported that the former president left the Trump International Golf Club with his motorcade after the Secret Service warded off the suspect and he returned to his Mar-a-Lago estate, which is located in Palm Beach, Florida.
In a defiant statement addressed to his supporters on Sunday, Trump declared, “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me. Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again.”
Trump previously went through a harrowing attack in mid-July, when a shooter opened fire on him while he was speaking to a crowd during an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as he seeks another term in the White House.
The former president survived, though he was hit in his right ear by a bullet. He raised his fist into the air in a show of strength. One rallygoer, 50-year-old fireman Corey Comperatore, was killed. Two other attendees were wounded.
Secret Service snipers took out the gunman, identified as a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man named Thomas Matthew Crooks, who unleashed the attack with a rifle from the roof of a building about 150 yards away from the stage.
Multiple investigations ensued, including one led by a bipartisan task force in the House, and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned amid blowback for the security failures underlying the shooting in Pennsylvania.
Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said they had confidence in the House task force’s members to “move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again.”
