President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, that a "Democrat Plot" was responsible for the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania. In a post on Truth Social, the president alleged that key evidence related to the shooting was missing, altered, or corrupted by the time he took office on January 20, 2025. He also stated that former FBI director Christopher Wray should "pay a price" for the handling of the investigation.
The statements follow a multi-year investigation into the shooting, during which 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop during a campaign rally. The gunfire grazed the president’s ear, killed attendee Corey Comperatore, and injured two others before a U.S. Secret Service sniper killed the gunman. Following the attack, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a probe involving 485 employees and over 1,000 interviews.
In November 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel and former Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Fox News Digital that the bureau concluded Crooks acted alone. Investigators reported reviewing 2,000 tips, 13 electronic devices, and 35 online accounts, including those based in Germany and Belgium. According to Patel, the bureau found no evidence that any foreign individual, government, or organization assisted or inspired the gunman.
The scale of the initial investigation involved nearly 500 federal employees and the manual review of 500,000 electronic files. While Patel stated in late 2025 that the president had been fully briefed as a victim and was "satisfied with the results," the new allegations suggest a shift in the president's stance toward the bureau's prior work.
Currently, the White House, the FBI, and the Office of Joe and Jill Biden have not provided additional comments on the new allegations. What happens next depends on whether the administration produces the "new info" the president mentioned or initiates formal proceedings to review the 2024 investigation files.