World leaders have united to condemn the assassination attempt against Donald Trump and expressed hopes for his quick recovery.
The former US president was shot at while giving a speech at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The Republican presidential candidate appears to have missed death or serious injury by mere inches, with at least one shot hitting him in his right ear.
In a statement on his Truth Social media site, Trump said: “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening.”
One person at the rally is believed to have been killed.
The FBI has named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, as the suspect in the attack. He was shot dead at the scene.
The US President, Joe Biden, Trump’s Democrat rival for the presidency in the November elections, called the attack “sick”, and said “there’s no place for this kind of violence in America”.
In an address to the nation, he said: “The Trump rally should have been able to be conducted peacefully without violence. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot condone this.”
Across the world, messages of outrage at the attack and well wishes for Trump poured in from other leaders.
Britain’s new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said he was was appalled by the “shocking scenes” and said: “Political violence in any form has no place in our societies.”
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, said he had sent his wishes to Trump for a prompt recovery. “It is a drama for our democracies. France shares the indignation of the American people,” he posted on X.
Meanwhile the Kremlin said “Russia has always condemned and we strongly condemn any expressions of violence during political struggle.
“We do not at all think or believe that the attempt to eliminate presidential candidate Trump was organised by the current government, but the atmosphere that this administration created during the political struggle, the atmosphere around candidate Trump provoked what America is faced with today,” the Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, added.
He added that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, had no plans to call Trump following the shooting.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Sunday that US lawmakers should employ the money they use to supply weapons to Ukraine “to finance the American police and other services which should ensure law and order within the United States.”
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he was “appalled to learn about the shooting of former US President Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania” and that “such violence had no justification and no place anywhere in the world. Never should violence prevail”.
In his post on X, he added: “My condolences go out to the close ones of this attack’s victim, a rally attendee. I extend my wishes for strength to everyone who is horrified by this event. I wish America emerges stronger from this.”
In Germany the Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said the attack was “despicable” and added: “I wish him a speedy recovery. My thoughts are also with all of those who were affected by the attack. Such acts of violence threaten democracy.”
The Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt himself in May, compared the two attacks in a social media post. He condemned the shooting of Trump and claimed that it was the result of “political opponents” of his trying to “shut Trump up”.
When that does not work, he added, “they piss off the public so much that some loser picks up a gun. And now we shall witness speeches about the need for reconciliation, appeasement and forgiveness.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “I’m sickened by the shooting at former President Trump” and emphasised that “political violence is never acceptable”.
The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, condemned the shooting as an “inexcusable attack”. Mr Albanese said there was “no place for violence in the democratic process”, added: “In Australia, as in the United States, the essence and the purpose of our democracies is that we can express our views, debate our disagreements and resolve our differences peacefully.”
The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, had extended his sympathies to Trump and China was concerned about the attack, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, posted on X: “We must stand firm against any form of violence that challenges democracy,” while the President of fellow democracy Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, wished Trump a swift recovery and condemned the attack. “Political violence of any form is never acceptable in our democracies. I offer my sincere condolences to the victims affected by the attack.
The Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, described the attack as a “shocking development” and said he condemned all political violence.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned the assassination attempt which he said he had watched “in horror”, and called it an “assassination attempt on American democracy” itself.
He said everyone in Israel was sending Trump wishes for “a quick recovery and return to full strength”.