MILWAUKEE – Donald Trump’s brush with death Saturday night made him a “changed man,” attendees of the Republican National Convention told The Post, pointing to his stoic demeanor on the convention floor, softened rhetoric and calls for unity this week post-assassination attempt.
The new Trump posture, Republicans at the RNC told The Post, invokes more humility compared to his typical bravado that helped him become a reality TV star years before launching his political career.
“How could someone not be affected by that experience?” bio tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy told The Post. “I think we’ve all been affected by that experience.”
“I think what we’re going to see is not some sort of new motivation of Donald Trump, but actually a motivation he’s always had but sometimes hasn’t come across clearly – which is that this is a man who cares about national unity,” Trump’s former 2024 primary rival-turned-supporter added.
Trump was shot in the upper ear Saturday night and was less than an inch from being shot directly in the head by a gunman at his Pennsylvania rally. The former president was whisked away to a local hospital and attended the RNC less than 48-hours after nearly being assassinated.
Trump’s tone has shifted away from his famed aggressive swagger toward the need for “unity” since the near-death encounter. He switched out his original convention speech and invited his top 2024 rival Nikki Haley – who played well with Republican “never Trumpers” – to take the stage, indicating he’s bringing more Republicans into the fold.
He speaks about the near-death experience in shock.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said. “I’m supposed to be dead.”
His initial entrance onto the RNC convention floor was especially a moment of visible change for some attendees. Gone was his sometimes arrogant, steal-the-show demeanor that put off some conservatives – yet he still achieved an all-eyes-on him moment.
“Trump came in, and he was at one point, teary-eyed. He did not go to the stage. He was in the traditional family box at the side of the convention,” California RNC delegate and convention sergeant-at-arms Shawn Steel told The Post.
“The real estate salesman, I think, is a different person, Steel said, noticing how “emotional” Trump was when he saw the crowd.
“It’s a good thing. Humility goes a long way in politics and it attracts far more people,” Steel added. “I think he’s seeing God.”
The change could “provide the key personality ingredient that Trump needs to win over college educated women, which is just a dash of humility,” Republican strategist John Thomas argued.
Thomas said some of Trump’s advisers have told him the former president has “changed,” and that the humility is also shown through his body language.
“He usually walks in, almost like ‘yeah, give it to me like I’m kind of the man, thank you,’” Thomas said.
But on Monday, Trump made his entrance more “timidly,” Thomas said – possibly because he had just been shot in a public place – but “you got the sense that just he was exuding a level of humility.”
“I also wonder if it’s caused him to realize that he is – this election and his presidency is bigger than himself.” he said.
Those closest to Trump, including his son Donald Trump Jr., have also spoken to his altered rhetoric post assassination. His daughter-in-law and RNC chair Lara Trump on Thursday told Fox News to expect a speech that would bring the country together.
The Donald Trump Jr. also said Tuesday that his father’s original convention speech was going to be “hot,” but that the assassination attempt triggered him to write something “very different” and that he’s a changed man.