Trump releases letter from Ronny Jackson on medical care since assassination attempt

Jackson wrote that he has been “evaluating and treating” Trump’s ear wound daily. Jackson is a former White House physician who has known Trump since he left the White House and later ran successfully for Congress.

Jackson told The New York Times reported in 2022 that he had let his Florida medical license lapse because he didn’t have time to see patients. But his medical license will remain on “active military” status until early 2025, which the Florida Department of Health says means “a licensed physician serving in the Armed Forces of the United States is authorized to practice only in a military facility.”

Jackson testified that Trump suffered a 3/4-inch wide wound from a bullet track “that passed through the cartilaginous surface of his ear.” Trump’s wound did not require stitches, Jackson said, but “there is still some intermittent bleeding, requiring a bandage.”

That bandage, a white square of gauze, was visible on the top of Trump’s ear during the convention. It also became a symbol for Trump supporters on the convention floor, who wore makeshift bandages over their right ears in solidarity with the former president. Most recently, at a campaign rally in Michigan on Saturday, he wore a standard, flesh-colored bandage.

Jackson also noted that the trauma initially caused some bleeding and swelling, but that the swelling has now subsided and the wound is “starting to heal nicely.”

The memo, written on Jackson’s U.S. Congressional letterhead and shared online by Trump on Truth Social, also provides new details about the medical care his team says they received at Butler Memorial Hospital in Butler, Pennsylvania, immediately after the assassination attempt.

In addition to treating his wound, Jackson wrote, hospital medical staff “conducted a thorough evaluation for additional injuries, including a CT scan of his head.”

The hospital where Trump was treated declined to comment on the contents of the letter.

“Privacy laws and policies prevent us from commenting on the care provided,” said Tom Chakurda, chief communications and marketing officer for Independence Health Systems, which operates Butler Memorial.

In a speech Thursday night in Milwaukee accepting the Republican nomination for president, Trump dramatically recounted the experience of narrowly missing a would-be assassin’s bullet at a rally in Pennsylvania. He said he would describe what happened only once because it was “too painful to tell.”

Turning his head to the right to look at a graphic on display at the rally, he recalled: “I started to turn to the right and was ready to do another turn – which luckily I didn’t – when I heard a loud whooshing noise and felt something hit my right ear really hard.”

“I thought to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet,’ and I put my right hand to my ear, brought it down and my hand was covered in blood,” he continued. “I knew right away that this was very serious, that we were under attack.”

Jackson said in the memo that Trump “will undergo further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing examination, if appropriate.”

“He will be following up with his primary care physician as directed by the physicians who initially examined him,” Jackson continued, adding that he “will be with the former president throughout the weekend to provide him with any medical attention he may require.”

Spokespeople for Jackson’s congressional office did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.

In Congress, Jackson is a staunch supporter of Trump. After Saturday’s rally, he said family members were present at the event and that his nephew had been injured.

Jackson worked in the White House medical department under three presidents but came under fire in a Pentagon inspector general’s report alleging that he dispensed prescription drugs without proper paperwork — a practice that reportedly earned him the nickname “Candyman.” Jackson has denied the report’s allegations, describing them as politically motivated.

He also drew criticism for praising Trump’s health in 2018, when he said Trump had “incredibly good genes.”

The Washington Post confirmed earlier this year that the Navy demoted Jackson in July 2022 after the inspector general’s report substantiated allegations of his inappropriate conduct as a White House physician, including making inappropriate sexual comments and throwing tantrums.

Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.