We came across multiple posts on the social media platform X about the following topic:

The posts, which have accumulated millions of views, suggest that Trump’s ear was undamaged in the recent assassination attempt at a political rally, where he was seen to have been bleeding from the ear after it was presumed to have been hit by a bullet fired by the would-be assassin.

Several of the posts include images that are suggested to have been captured recently by the news media company AP, which is widely recognised as a reputable source of information.

The posts claim that the images show that Trump’s formerly bleeding ear is undamaged, and insinuate that details of the truth regarding the assassination attempt are being withheld or covered up.

Some posts also claim that a White House photographer was ‘kicked off Twitter’—the social media platform now known as X—for drawing attention to these pictures.

A Earful of Claims amid Uncertainty

When we conducted a keyword search on X and using web search on Trump’s ear injury, we found a plethora of other claims regarding the issue from all sides of the US political spectrum.

This appears to be due to a large degree of uncertainty over the injuries Trump had suffered during the assassination attempt, including details such as what he had been hit by.

Trump’s campaign has also issued a memo from his former White House doctor describing the gunshot wound to his ear, and his son Eric explained that Trump’s injury did not require stitches when he went on the news to discuss the injury.

Nevertheless, there remains no official update about the former president’s condition except for updates from Trump himself and his associates. Coupled with the need for Trump to wear a bandage obscuring the injury from view, this appears to have resulted in several conspiracy theories emerging regarding Trump’s condition and the nature of the incident.

One claim that had been debunked suggested that Trump had been struck by shattered glass from a teleprompter. Another set of claims used old video clips and images to suggest that Trump had appeared at events with no signs of damage to his ear.

A doctored video supporting Trump has also appeared that falsely appears to show a bullet punching a hole in Trump’s ear.

In addition, the Director of the FBI had initially made comments expressing uncertainty over whether Trump was hit by a bullet or by shrapnel. The agency has, however, since confirmed that Trump was hit by a bullet or a bullet fragment.

Real Pictures, False Claims

We looked up the picture described in the posts on the AP newsroom and were able to verify that one of the pictures was taken by the agency, showing one of the earliest public appearances of Trump after the removal of the bandage covering his ear.

While the resolution of the image made it difficult to view Trump’s ear in detail, other pictures from a short while later showed the ear from much closer. From the images, there appeared to be little visible damage to the ear.

While the damage does not appear to be substantial, this does not mean that Trump’s ear is undamaged. Images of Trump’s ear after the assassination attempt clearly show it to be bloodied, with the skin possibly torn.

In addition, a New York Times photographer also appears to have captured the moment the bullet that hit Trump passed him, with the bullet trail visible in the image.

Explaining the Miracle

As both the images of Trump’s ear during the incident and after it had recovered are from reputable sources, they are both likely to be authentic.

The lack of clear detail regarding the extent of injuries sustained following the assassination attempt appears to have created the expectation that the damage Trump sustained to his ear would cause visible deformation.

With the issuing of the images of the recovered ear, it appears to be clear that Trump had suffered a less extensive injury than what was expected. It is not possible through the images alone, and without a thorough medical investigation, to determine the condition of the ear.

As there is also previous video and photographic evidence showing that Trump’s ear was hit by a bullet during the rally, it is therefore false that recent images show him unscathed.

Claims that these findings were being suppressed is also untrue. We found that while the former White House photographer had posted claims on X expressing scepticism regarding the damage to Trump’s ear, he had admitted on Instagram that he had voluntarily deleted his X account after his post invited abuse of the photographer whose photo he had shared.