Donald Trump was playing a round of golf at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday (September 15), when gunshots rang out.
According to Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung, the divisive political figure was unharmed.
“Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” Cheung said in a statement. “No further details at this time.”
The incident took place just hours after Trump wrote “I Hate Taylor Swift” on his Truth Social platform, which provided ample opportunity to crack a joke about an angry Swiftie being behind it. As one person joked on Twitter, “Trump getting shot at after his Taylor Swift post.. Oh they’re sliding for Mrs. Swift.”
Another said, “Donald Trump declared today in Truth Social: I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT! Then 3 hours later gunshots were heard fired near his location in Florida. Swifties be rollin’ up,” while yet another wrote, “Trump’s WAR on Taylor Swift. A couple hours later, Gunshots at the Golf Course Trump was on, and that muvafkr got taken to the bunker. Don’t mess with Swifties. These GRRLs are the Rambos of Social Media.”
Another suggested Swift herself was behind it, writing, “Taylor Swift just tried to shoot Donald Trump in Palm Beach.”
If the gunshots were intended for Trump, this would mark the second time this year he’s been a target. In July, Trump was reportedly shot in the ear during a presidential rally in Pennsylvania as part of an assassination attempt.
According to MSNBC, Trump was escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents and into his motorcade just minutes into his rally in Butler after a series of gunshots. Trump’s ear appeared to be bleeding heavily as he was rushed away. At the time of the incident, Trump fell to the ground as he was giving a speech. He was quickly surrounded by agents and stayed down for around a minute.
He then jumped to his feet and pumped his fist in the air and shouted “fight” before being driven away from the scene. The crowd was immediately cleared out of the seated area of the rally, and the police put up caution tape over a section of the left side of the bleachers as they try to determine what happened. Rallygoers said they saw the military chase out someone on the lefthand side of the bleachers. A medical helicopter arrived and headed south, likely to the medical center in Pittsburgh.
The person behind the shooting, Matthew Crooks, was killed on-site.