Monday Briefing: “Defiant in the face of wickedness”

A failed attempt to assassinate Donald Trump

View in browser|nytimes.com July 15, 2024 By Natasha Frost Good morning. We're covering the F.B.I.'s search for a motive in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and an airstrike on Gaza. Plus: A wedding for the new Gilded Age. After shots rang out, Donald Trump was swarmed by Secret Service agents. Doug Mills/The New York Times 'Defiant in the face of wickedness' Shots rang out at a Trump rally on Saturday night. The former president clutched his right ear, spurting blood, then ducked for cover as his supporters screamed and Secret Service agents leaped on top of him. Within moments, someone shouted "shooter down," and the agents began moving Trump offstage. He pumped his fist in the air and seemed to shout "Fight! Fight!" as the crowd erupted with chants of "U.S.A.!" See a visual timeline of the shooting. For the first time in more than four decades, a man who was elected president of the U.S. was wounded in an assassination attempt. The shooting killed one man, injured Trump and critically wounded two others. Secret Service snipers killed the assailant. Here's what to know. Trump pumped his fist in the air and seemed to shout "Fight! Fight!" after the shooting.  Eric Lee/The New York Times F.B.I. agents are now investigating the shooting as a possible domestic terrorism attack and assassination attempt. The officials said that they had found no indication that the 20-year-old gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pa., was part of any larger plot, and that their top priority was determining his motive. The officials said they had not uncovered evidence that the shooter, a registered Republican, had mental health issues. They said that his phone, rifle and a possible "rudimentary" explosive device found among his possessions had been sent to the bureau's lab in Quantico, Va. The shooter's family was cooperating with the investigation, the F.B.I. said. World leaders and elected officials condemned the violence, and some prominent Trump backers accused Democrats of inflammatory rhetoric that incited the attack. The Biden campaign suspended its television advertising, and the Trump campaign warned staffers to avoid "dangerous rhetoric on social media." Trump: The former president said that a bullet had pierced his right ear, and he vowed to remain "defiant in the face of wickedness." He was able to walk off his plane unaided when it landed in New Jersey hours later. Trump is set to be formally nominated at the Republican National Convention, beginning in Milwaukee today. Biden: In a short Oval Office address last night, President Biden condemned the attack, urging Americans to "lower the temperature." He added: "Politics must never be a literal battlefield and, God forbid, a killing field." He said he had demanded a national security review and promised to share the results with the American people. For more: The assassination attempt has plunged the 2024 presidential race into shock and uncertainty. The attack will likely tear Americans further apart, my colleague Peter Baker writes. Times reporters and photographers described what they saw at the rally. One image by the photographer, Doug Mills, appeared to show a bullet streaking by Trump's head. From Opinion: Any attempt to resolve an election through violence is abhorrent, members of the Times editorial board write. Damaged shelters at the site of the Israeli airstrike. Bashar Taleb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Doubts after a major Israeli airstrike A large Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Saturday targeted Muhammad Deif, Hamas's top military commander. A day later, his fate was uncertain: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said that there was still no "absolute certainty" on whether Deif had been killed, and a Hamas official who lives in exile suggested that he was still alive. The Israeli military and the Shin Bet domestic security agency said that Rafa Salameh, an important Hamas leader and another target of the attack, had been killed. In total, at least 90 people were also killed in the strike, about half of them women and children, and 300 were wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Details: Deif is the second most senior Hamas figure in Gaza, after the group's leader in the territory, Yahya Sinwar. He is considered one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that prompted the war in Gaza, now in its 10th month. Cease-fire: After weeks of an impasse, talks recently resumed for an agreement that would see the roughly 120 hostages remaining in Gaza exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. How the strike might affect those already fragile talks was not immediately clear. MORE TOP NEWS Yuri Kochetkov/EPA, via Shutterstock Ukraine: Newly armed with deep-strike missiles, Kyiv is trying to degrade Russian abilities in Crimea. China: Economic growth slumped through the spring after a strong start this year, according to data released today. Pakistan: Imran Khan, the incarcerated former prime minister, was acquitted in an unlawful-marriage case, and a court granted his former party 23 more Parliament seats. Colombia: A peace deal upended the cocaine market — causing a humanitarian crisis in villages where coca is the only source of income. Brazil: Early wildfires have broken records and raised alarms, well before the worst of the annual fire season. Climate: Burns from hot sidewalks and roads are on the rise. Alec Baldwin: The actor's manslaughter case is over, but he is accused of negligence in other lawsuits related to the fatal shooting of a movie's cinematographer. SPORTS NEWS European Championship: Spain defeated England in the final. Read about Spain's teenage forward, Lamine Yamal. Wimbledon: Barbora Krejcikova won the women's final on Saturday for her second Grand Slam title; Carlos Alcaraz won his second straight men's Wimbledon title yesterday. Princess Catherine, in a rare public appearance, awarded Alcaraz his trophy. Women's soccer: Lina Boussaha wanted to wear her hijab while playing the sport. That decision eventually led her to start her career anew in the Middle East. Olympics: The Olympic torch arrived in Paris yesterday in a luxury Louis Vuitton suitcase, 12 days before the opening of the Games. MORNING READ Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images, via LightRocket, via Getty Images The lead-up to the wedding of the younger son of Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, would have awed Jay Gatsby. Artists like Rihanna and Katy Perry performed for guests like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg at prenuptial celebrations, which included a four-day Mediterranean cruise — the bride-to-be said the couple couldn't find a large enough venue on land. Those extravagant celebrations offered a peek into the upper echelon of India's Gilded Age. The wedding took place over the weekend. Here's what we know. Lives lived: Shannen Doherty, who starred in the 1990s television dramas "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Charmed," died on Saturday at 53. CONVERSATION STARTERS Ancient supernova: Time-lapse videos made up of images collected over two decades show the aftermath of centuries-old supernovas exploding. Watch them here. Cut 'em loose: Some therapists, many on social media, are encouraging people to estrange themselves from "toxic" family members. Angry birds: American Oystercatchers, orange-billed shorebirds, are battling drones that New York City officials deploy to scan for sharks or swimmers in distress. ARTS AND IDEAS Andrew Testa for The New York Times Pressing for change from afar The Russian writer known as Boris Akunin has sold at least 30 million books in Russia, many of them featuring the detective Erast Fandorin. Long a vocal critic of the Kremlin, Akunin has for the last decade lived in exile after leaving in 2014 to protest Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. Since relocating to London, he has contemplated how cultural figures abroad can spur change at home. Akunin's work was still widely available in Russia until last December, when pro-Kremlin pranksters pretending to be Ukrainian officials recorded him supporting Ukraine's defense. After the recording was released, the Russian government essentially ended the distribution of his books. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, "I have to say, the amount of work and writing I've been doing over these two terrible years, never in my life have I written so much," he told an audience in London, describing how a writing binge trumped a drinking binge. "It is a form of escapism." We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Armando Rafael for The New York Times Cook: This light salmon dish just might be the perfect summer dinner. Safeguard: Protect your accounts with a password manager. Watch: Narrated by Martin Scorsese, "Made in England" is an essay film about two fascinating filmmakers. Read: Our full list of the 100 best books of the 21st century is up. We can help you choose one. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Europe Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. 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