‘Defiance went away’: Truth behind iconic Donald Trump picture after attempted assassination

A photographer has revealed what really happened behind the iconic pictures of Donald Trump’s fist pump after his attempted assassination.

A photographer who was only feet away from Donald Trump when he was shot at on Sunday has revealed what the moment was really like behind the pictures that quickly circulated worldwide.

Doug Mills, a photographer for The New York Times, is the man behind the remarkable image that captured a bullet whizzing past the former president after grazing his ear.

The veteran photographer was shooting in 8000th of a second on his camera and caught the bullet in just one frame, which he only realised when he opened it on his laptop.

However, the photos that gained the most attention were of Trump raising a defiant fist in the air, with blood on his face and Secret Service agents surrounding him.

This is the moment Donald Trump defiantly raised his fist in the air after he was shot at. Picture: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP

Various pictures of the act have gone viral, but one photographer says it was not all as it seems. Picture: Rebecca Droke / AFP

It was an unexpected reaction from someone who had nearly been shot just seconds before and shocking enough to fuel conspiracy theories online that the shooting had been staged.

But Mr Mills explained that act of defiance only lasted a second.

The photographer had rushed from his position in front of the lectern to the stairs where Trump would later exit the stage and witnessed the 78-year-old being helped to his feet. Trump had dropped down behind the lectern after realising what was happening.

Trump dropped down to the ground behind the lectern when he realised what was happening. Picture: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP

Secret Service agents surrounded him. Picture: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP

“My immediate reaction was ‘Oh my God, he’s alive’ and then all of a sudden he got near the edge of the stage and raised up his fist up in defiance and I could see the blood on his face,” Mr Mills explained in a video.

“And that defiance went away, like in a split second, and he became very serious. I thought he looked very pale.

“Two very different moments happened, you know, in a matter of seconds.

“It is a moment unlike any in my lifetime, my history, my job covering the White House since 1983.”

On Monday afternoon Australian time, Trump agreed the photo was “iconic”.

“A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen,” he told New York Post during an interview aboard his private plane en route to the Republican National Convention.

“They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.”

He told the Washington Examiner he pumped his fist because he “knew the world was looking”.

“I knew that history would judge this, and I knew I had to let them know we are okay,” he said.

The 78-year-old did not look good coming off the stage, despite the fist pump seconds earlier. Picture: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP

Doug Mills is seen here in the blue shirt and brimmed hat before the shooting. Picture: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP

Mr Mills had been in a “buffer area” in front of the stage as one of a handful of photographers allowed to cover Trump’s political rally in Pennsylvania up close.

In a Q&A for The New York Times, he said initially he thought “three or four loud pops” were a car. Then, he realised something more frightening had happened.

“As tough as he [Trump] looked in that one picture with his fist looking very defiant, the next frame I took, he looked completely drained. Very, very shocked,” he said.

“As he came down the steps, the Secret Service completely covered him in a blanket of people and they walked him all the way to his SUV.”

Trump is both the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and a former US president, and therefore has Secret Service protection for life.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead after he fired at Trump from the rooftop of a nearby building at the outdoor political rally in Butler, just outside Pittsburgh, on Sunday morning Australian time.

One bullet hit Trump’s ear and at least one other bullet hit and killed a member of the crowd.

An investigation into the attempted assassination is being led by the FBI, while US President Joe Biden has also ordered an independent review of security at the political rally.