Donald Trump picked up where he left off back in July when a gunman tried to assassinate him but only struck his ear before he raised his fist and shouted “Fight” and was whisked away with blood across his face.
“Tonight I return to Butler in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and to the people of America,” said the Republican presidential nominee.
“Our movement to make America great again, stand stronger, prouder, more united, more determined, and nearer to victory than ever before.”
The Trump campaign wanted to maximise the event’s headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go in his race against his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mr Trump said the assassin tried to silence him, calling him “a vicious monster” and saying he did not succeed by “by the hand of providence and the grace of God”.
Mr Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, got on stage at the Butler Farm Show grounds to speak before the former president and reflected on the events that day while severely criticising Democrats for calling Mr Trump “a threat to democracy,” saying that kind of language is “inflammatory”.
“You heard the shots. You saw the blood. We all feared the worst. But you knew everything would be okay when President Trump raised his fist high in the air and shouted, ‘fight, fight!’” said Mr Vance, who was chosen as his vice presidential nominee less than two days later.
“Now I believe it as sure as I’m standing here today that what happened was a true miracle.”
Billionaire Elon Musk is also expected to speak as the campaign elevates the headline-generating potential of his return in its tight race against Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
A billboard on the way into the rally said, “IN MUSK WE TRUST,” and showed his photo.
A massive crowd stood shoulder to shoulder from the stage to the press stand several hundred yards away at the event billed as a “tribute to the American spirit”.
Crowds were lined up as the sun rose on Saturday. A memorial for firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire, was set up in the bleachers, his fireman’s jacket set up on display surrounded by flowers.
His sisters were crying as speakers mentioned him. There was a very visible heightened security presence, with armed law enforcers in camouflage uniforms on roofs.
Mr Trump planned to use the event to remember Mr Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter struck and killed at the July 13 rally, and to recognise the two other rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
They and Mr Trump were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.
The building from which Crooks fired was completely obscured by trucks, a large grassy perimeter and a fence. Most bleachers were now at the sides, rather than behind Mr Trump.
How Crooks managed to outmanoeuvre law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-president is among many questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive.
