Trump lands in Milwaukee for RNC after assassination attempt

Former President Donald Trump arrived in Wisconsin Sunday ahead of the Republican National Convention — a day after he survived an assassination attempt at a campaign event in Pennsylvania.

Trump’s distinctive Boeing 757, nicknamed Trump Force One, landed at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee at around 5:45 p.m. local time ahead of the four-day event where Republicans are set to formally tap him as their nominee.

His visit to the key swing state came after a gunman opened fire at his rally in Butler, Pa. Sunday afternoon, injuring his right ear.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump, 78, said he considered delaying his trip to the key swing state because of the attempt on his life but decided against it.

“Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled, at 3:30 P.M. TODAY.”

Runways at Mitchell International Airport were shut down for 30 minutes as Trump’s plane landed as part of security protocols. 

The US Secret Service announced ahead of the former president’s arrival that it will not be beefing up security for the convention despite the attempt on Trump’s life. 

“We are confident in the plans that we have and are moving forward with those plans,” Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service’s RNC coordinator, told reporters.

The presumptive 2024 Republican nominee is expected to name his running mate at the convention.

He will reportedly be accompanied to the convention by his wife, Melania Trump, who would be making a rare appearance on the campaign trail with her husband this cycle.

Melania, 54, said Sunday that when she watched gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ “violent bullet strike my husband …  I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change.” 

Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by the Secret Service — but not before his bullets bloodied Trump, killed one man and critically wounded two others.