WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump recognized nearly 100 recipients of the Purple Heart at the White House on Thursday, including three service members who gave him their own medals after an attempt on his life at a Pennsylvania campaign rally.
Trump opened the event marking National Purple Heart Day by noting that dozens of the award’s recipients were at the ceremony in the East Room. The Republican president offered “everlasting thanks to you and your unbelievable families.”
But he had special words for the trio of veterans who sent Trump their medals after the 2024 shooting in Butler. Trump said the trio, “showed me the same unbelievable gesture of kindness.”
“What a great honor to get those Purple Hearts. I guess, in a certain way, it wasn’t that easy for me either, when you think of it,” Trump said of the attempt on his life. “But you went through a lot more than I did, and I appreciate it very much.”
After a shooter’s bullet pierced the upper part of Trump’s right ear in Butler just days before the 2024 Republican National Convention, the then-Republican presidential candidate was gifted medals from some Purple Heart recipients. The medals were presented to him at campaign events during the race’s closing months.
