Former first lady Melania Trump recalled the horror of watching the first assassination attempt on her husband’s life at a Pennsylvania rally — and the “traumatic” experience it was for their teen son Barron to see the replays.
Before former President Donald Trump, 78, arrived at the campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, his wife of 19 years had told him “good luck, be safe” and that she would be watching, Melania wrote in her new memoir, “Melania,” according to an excerpt obtained by The Post.
The former fashion model, 54, had the event on television paused when she suddenly received a chilling call from her chief of staff who told her, quivering, that “there was a shooting.”
Melania then remembered watching “the chaos unfold” on her screen as a gunman opened fire, and her husband instinctively reached for his head as a bullet grazed his ear, she wrote.
“‘He’s on the ground,’ I called out. ‘Are you sure he’s OK?’” Melania remembered saying as the Republican presidential candidate was immediately surrounded by Secret Service agents on stage.
Trump would emerge on his feet with blood streaming down his face before being whisked away by his security detail. The gunman, 20-year-old Michael Thomas Crooks, was immediately killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Melania wrote that she frantically made calls to Trump and his Secret Service detail, who informed her that they were at the hospital.
When she finally got her husband on the line, Trump’s first words were a reassuring, “I’m Ok,” she wrote.
The most difficult part about the ordeal, she penned, was breaking the news to their 18-year-old son Barron, who had to relive the nightmare over and over again as the harrowing shooting footage was repeatedly shown on the news and across social media.
“We replayed the footage and watched it together. We were both in shock. As we tuned into the news coverage, I felt a deep sense of distress,” Melania wrote.
“Can I explain how traumatic it is for a child to witness the attempted murder of his father? The relentless replay of the rally footage on the news only intensified our anxiety,” she continued.
“Each time we sat Donald’s bloodied face, I had to remind myself that I had actually just spoken to him, heard his voice, and knew that he was safe,” she added.
Melania described the immense relief she and Barron felt when Trump returned to their Bedminster, New Jersey, home around 2 a.m. the following morning.
The next few days were “harrowing and surreal” for the family, knowing just how close the former president had come to being killed.
“Melania” also includes a letter she drafted to the American people on July 14, 2024, in which she called for a return to humanity in politics.
“A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to wring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music and inspiration. The core factors of my husband’s life — his human side — were buried below the political machine.
“Let us not forget that differing opinions, policy and political games are inferior to love … Political concepts are simple when compared to us, human beings.”
“Melania” hits shelves on Tuesday.
