Donald Trump has said Melania Trump cannot talk about the recent attempt to kill him, and that's "nice" because it means his wife either likes or loves him.
A gunman opened fire while Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, injuring the former president, killing one attendee, and leaving two others wounded. Suspect Thomas Crooks, was shot and killed by the Secret Service.
During an appearance on Fox News Channel's The Ingraham Angle, Trump revealed to the host that Melania Trump saw the assassination attempt in real time.
A clip of the conversation was shared to X, formerly Twitter, by the account Republicans against Trump. At the time of writing, it had been viewed 126,800 times.
Newsweek reached out to Melania Trump via The Office of Donald J. Trump's website on Monday for comment.
"What was Melania's reaction, I hope you don't mind me asking, I know this is very personal, when she learned about what happened on that field in Butler?" Laura Ingraham asked the former president.
"She was watching … she was watching live, it was all over the place, it was on television, it was on your network, but it was all over the place and she was watching," he explained.
"And I asked her that, I mean I wasn't there, I was on the ground—when the world started to, when you could talk to people and said, 'So what was your feeling,' and she was ah, she can't really even talk about it—"
Ingraham said: "Traumatized."
Donald Trump continued: "Which is OK, because that means she likes me or she loves me. Let's say if she could talk about it freely, that would be, I'm not so sure which is better but ah, she either likes or loves me, that's nice."
The day after the assassination attempt, Melania Trump shared a statement online, urging Americans to unite beyond politics, expressed her condolences to the families of the injured and the deceased, and highlighted the former president's personal qualities.
The former first lady posted on her official X account that "the fabric of our gentle nation is tattered, but our courage and common sense must ascend and bring us back together as one."
She described how watching the bullet strike her husband made her realize that her life, and their son's, Barron Trump, "were on the brink of devastating change."
Melania Trump, like the former president and his campaign staff, thanked Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers for their protection.
"To the families of the innocent victims who are now suffering from this heinous act, I humbly offer my sincerest sympathy," she wrote on X.
The former first lady called Crooks "a monster who recognized my husband as an inhumane political machine." She added that Crooks sought to "ring out Donald's passion—his laughter, ingenuity, love of music and inspiration."
In the statement, she urged Americans not to "forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love," and that "we are all humans, and fundamentally, instinctively, we want to help one another." She added that "love, compassion, kindness and empathy are necessities."
"And let us remember that when the time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm," she continued on Sunday.
"Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now. This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence," she said.
"We want a world where respect is paramount, family is fire, and love transcends. We can realize this world again."
Melania Trump ended her statement by commending those who reached beyond the political divide, writing, "Thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family."
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