When a firework boomed in the distance as President Trump addressed supporters in Iowa earlier this month, the popping sound triggered something in the president’s mind.

“It’s only fireworks, I hope. Famous last words,” Trump quipped, a nod to when he was on stage a year ago in Pennsylvania and gunshots rang out, with a bullet grazing his ear.

“You always have to think positive,” Trump said in Iowa. “I didn’t like that sound either.”

Sunday marks one year since Trump was bloodied in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. The shocking moment served as a turning point for Trump both politically and personally, and it set off a reckoning at the Secret Service that is still playing out.

The Butler shooting galvanized and energized Republicans in their unflinching support of Trump for the final few months of the 2024 campaign. Logistically, it forced the Trump campaign to adapt to fresh security concerns.

The near-death experience also added to Trump’s already mythic persona among many of his supporters.

The president and his allies have over the past year repeatedly suggested it was divine intervention that saved his life en route to a return to the White House. Supporters regularly chant "fight, fight, fight," echoing Trump's words as he was rushed off stage in Butler. And an image of a........

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