FBI reveals new details on Donald Trump shooter as former president agrees to ‘victim interview’

Donald Trump has agreed to an FBI ‘victim interview’ as the extreme lengths his “highly intelligent” shooter took are revealed.

Donald Trump has agreed to sit for an interview with the FBI after the bureau confirmed the former president was struck by a bullet during the assassination attempt.

A bureau official confirmed Mr Trump would sit for a “standard victim interview” that would “get his perspective on what he observed, just like any other witness to the crime”.

It comes after the FBI confirmed Mr Trump had been struck by a bullet during the assassination attempt, putting to rest speculation the former president may have been struck by glass or other shrapnel.

“The interview of the former president will be consistent with any other victim interview that we do,” said Kevin Rojek the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office.

“We want to get his perspective on what he observed,” he added, “As well as get his perspective on what occurred to him during that event.”

Mr Rojek said they still don’t have a motive for shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks despite conducting more than 450 interviews and examining more than 2100 tips, including images, videos, documents and audio recordings.

“We believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities,” Mr Rojek said.

Starting in the spring of 2023, he used an alias to make more than 25 firearms-related purchases from an online vendor.

He also used aliases to make “chemical precursor-related purchases” online in order to build the explosives found in his car and his home after the shooting, authorities said.

• READ MORE: FBI chief’s stunning Trump shooting claim

In a review of Crooks’ gaming sites, messaging apps, social media and online search history, the FBI said the shooter searched power plants, mass shooting events, information on IEDs and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister earlier this year.

FBI officials said they have interviewed dozens of people who knew or interacted with Crooks, including family members, co-workers, former teachers, classmates and others.

“We have learned the subject was highly intelligent, attended college and maintained steady employment,” Rojek said.

“His primary social circle appears to be limited to his immediate family as we believe he had few friends and acquaintances.”

The FBI officials said Crooks’s parents have said they had no advance knowledge of their son’s plot.

“We do find that to be credible at this stage,” Rojek said.

An undated school yearbook image shows a photograph of Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Donald Trump is rushed off stage after being grazed by a bullet during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The Beaver County SWAT team blamed the assassination attempt on a lack of planning and communication.

Sniper Gregory Nicol said something “didn’t seem right” about Crooks, who he first spotted skulking around the AGR complex.

“He was looking up and down the building … it just seemed out of place,” Mr Nicol, who photographed Crooks and shared on a group chat, told ABC News. 

“I assumed that there would be somebody coming out to, you know, speak with this individual or me. I’ll find out what’s going on,” Mr Nicol said.

DOCTOR GIVES TRUMP INJURY UPDATE

The FBI is seeking to interview Donald Trump after the former president slammed the bureau for questioning whether he was shot in the failed assassination attempt.

Trump railed against FBI Director Christopher Wray after testimony to Congress that it was unclear if the injury was the result of a bullet, glass, or shrapnel.

“The FBI never even checked!”, Trump fumed. “But he was sure that Crooked Joe Biden was physically and cognitively “uneventful” – Wrong!”

It comes as former White House doctor Ronny Jackson released his assessment on Mr Trump’s condition after treating the injury, saying the former president was “rapidly recovering from a gunshot wound to the right ear”.

Wray, who was also grilled over the mental acuity of President Joe Biden, told Congress there was still “some question” about whether Trump was shot given the lack of an official report from the hospital.

“No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel,” Trump said.

“The hospital called it a “bullet wound to the ear,” and that is what it was. No wonder the once storeyed FBI has lost the confidence of America!”

Trump showed his unbandaged bullet wound to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting at Mar-a-lago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked @realDonaldTrump about his bullet wound as they walked to their meeting at Mar-a-lago. Former President Trump showed him where he was hit. pic.twitter.com/USaHwVNXiG

— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) July 26, 2024

The FBI has requested an interview with Trump as part of their broader investigation to provide a more complete record of his injury, according to an anonymous bureau official quoted in The New York Times.

“With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray told Congress.

“So it is conceivable, as I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else.”

Trump grabs his ear as a bullet whizzes past his head. Picture: Getty Images

After the first shot, Trump inspects the blood on his had. Picture: Getty Images

The former president dives for cover as blood flows from his right ear. Picture: Getty Images

The investigation is continuing to examine bullet fragments and other evidence from the shooting, including metal fragments found near the rally stage.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who established a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination, said there’s “frustration and concern” about the leadership in the FBI, Secret Service, and other agencies.

The taskforce will have full investigative authority, including subpoena power, to submit a final report of its findings by December 13.

“We’ve all seen the video, we’ve seen the analysis, we’ve heard it from multiple sources in different angles that a bullet went through his ear,” he said.

Important update on the health of President Donald J. Trump from Dr. @RonnyJacksonTX: pic.twitter.com/oRY3KJzBOb

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) July 26, 2024

Dr Ronny Jackson, who treated Donald Trump after he was shot in the failed assassination attempt, revealed the former president had “a little bit” of his ear blown off by the gunfire.

“I checked his ear out. I dressed his ear up this morning,” Dr Jackson said during the Republican National Convention.

“He was lucky. It was far enough away from his head that there was no concussive effects from the bullet and it just took the top of his ear off a little bit.”

“It was bleeding like crazy because the ear is pretty vascular and bleeds pretty badly.

“I bandaged it up pretty good this morning. It’s also not like a clean laceration like you would have with a knife or a blade. It’s a bullet track going by. “

“It’s going to granulate and heal in. he’s not going to need anything done to it. It’s going to be fine.”