We all know the iconic words President Trump shouted to the crowd seconds after he was shot in the ear by Thomas Matthew Crooks in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024: “Fight, fight, fight!” But in those few seconds between the shot and his rally cry when he was lying on the ground, what was he saying?

Reporter Salena Zito, who was with President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, that day, has the answer to that question.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Zito — whose upcoming book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland” spills the untold details of the Butler story — shared what President Trump said in the seconds before he roared those legendary words.

When President Trump was on the ground being shielded by Secret Service members, Zito says she “could see him.”

“He says USA twice … and then I see him turn and get up and say, ‘Fight, fight, fight,”’ she tells Glenn.

In a later phone call with President Trump, Zito asked why he said those words.

“And he said, ‘Well, Selena, at that moment I wasn't Donald Trump. I was symbolic, even though I wasn't president yet … I had an obligation to show that the country is strong, that we will not be defeated, and that we are resolute. I did not want to be the symbol of America being weak,”’ she recounts.

“You’re bringing me to tears,” says Glenn, who’s had similar conversations with President Trump.

That kind of bold strength, he says, is “either in you or not in you, and it’s in very few people.”

Glenn then points out that many world leaders have experienced assassination attempts, but usually, their narrow escapes make them “egotistical.” Trump, on the other hand, was “humbled … yet strengthened” by his near-death experience. Repeatedly, he has given credit to God for saving his life.

Zito says he truly believes divine intervention is why he’s alive today. The speed at which his administration is operating and the resoluteness that characterized his policy decisions stem from the belief that God spared his life for a purpose — that purpose being “to save this country.”

But Trump wasn't the only person who felt the Lord's presence that day. Zito says people from the Butler crowd, who remained mysteriously calm despite the horror they witnessed, have also reported that “they felt the presence of something greater than self in that moment” when their leader was nearly killed.

Zito also shares a fascinating bit of history about another famous president who was nearly assassinated in Butler, Pennsylvania. To hear it, watch the clip above.

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