Fact Check: Trump Wore Bandage in September 2024 Interview After Ear Healed?

Claim:

A screenshot authentically shows former U.S. President Donald Trump wearing a bandage on his ear again in September 2024, long after his right ear had healed from a July assassination attempt.

Rating:

Miscaptioned ( About this rating? )

Context:

The screenshot in question is from a July 2024 interview with Fox News. Photographs of Trump show he removed the bandage weeks before September.

A viral screenshot of Donald Trump spread in September 2024 claiming to show the former U.S. president wearing a bandage on his right ear that month, even though his ear had reportedly already healed following an assassination attempt against him in July. The screenshot claimed to show a recent Fox News interview in which the bandage is visible on Trump's ear.

(X user @aintscarylarry)

However, the above post and others falsely claimed that the interview was recent. The screenshot is from a July 2024 Fox News interview Trump had alongside his running mate, JD Vance, conducted by Jesse Watters. As such, we rate this claim as "Miscaptioned."

We found the exact moment from the X post in a Fox News interview from late July 2024. The moment in question occurs at the 1:23 minute mark in the YouTube video below:

Here is a screenshot of that moment as well:

(YouTube user Fox News)

Jesse Watters' July 2024 interview with Trump was aired again on Fox News on Sept. 2, 2024, according to the Internet Archive . During the moment from the screenshot, Trump was responding to a question from Watters, who asked, "Are strikes against the [drug] cartels still on the table?"

Trump responded: "Absolutely. … Mexico is going to have to straighten it out really fast. … They're killing 300,000 people a year with fentanyl coming in."

However, the Sept. 2, 2024, broadcast of the interview did not indicate it was originally recorded several weeks earlier. Watters also never indicated in his introduction to the interview that he was sharing an older recording. The YouTube video from Fox News in July 2024 corroborated that this was an old interview of Trump when he was still wearing the ear bandage.

Trump was injured in a shooting on July 13, 2024, in which a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. Images in the aftermath of the shooting show a bloodied Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents, with blood running from Trump's right ear onto his face.

On July 26, 2024, Trump confirmed at an event in Florida that he was done wearing a bandage on his ear: "As I think you can see, I've recovered well and, in fact, just took off the last bandage off of my ear."

A series of more recent Getty Images photographs from August 2024 also showed Trump without the bandage on his ear.

Sources:

"FBI Says Trump Was Indeed Struck by Bullet during Assassination Attempt." AP News, 26 July 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-bullet-shrapnel-ronny-jackson-christopher-wray-cb780b9d1a078f0be4191682e75101cf. " target="blank">https://apnews.com/article/trump-bullet-shrapnel-ronny-jackson-christopher-wray-cb780b9d1a078f0be4191682e75101cf.">https://apnews.com/article/trump-bullet-shrapnel-ronny-jackson-christopher-wray-cb780b9d1a078f0be4191682e75101cf. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

"Former US President and Republican Presidential Candidate Donald..." Getty Images, 30 Aug. 2024, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-us-president-and-republican-presidential-candidate-news-photo/2168550563. " target="blank">https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-us-president-and-republican-presidential-candidate-news-photo/2168550563.">https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-us-president-and-republican-presidential-candidate-news-photo/2168550563. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

Jesse Watters Primetime : FOXNEWSW : September 2, 2024 5:00pm-6:00pm PDT. 3 Sept. 2024. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20240903_000000_Jesse_Watters_Primetime. " target="blank">http://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20240903_000000_Jesse_Watters_Primetime.">http://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20240903_000000_Jesse_Watters_Primetime. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

"Republican Presidential Nominee, Former U.S. President Donald Trump..." Getty Images, 30 Aug. 2024, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/republican-presidential-nominee-former-u-s-president-donald-news-photo/2169507783. " target="blank">https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/republican-presidential-nominee-former-u-s-president-donald-news-photo/2169507783.">https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/republican-presidential-nominee-former-u-s-president-donald-news-photo/2169507783. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

Suter, Tara. "Title Tag: Trump without Bandage on Ear at Turning Point Event." The Hill, 27 July 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4795636-trump-without-bandage-ear/. " target="blank">https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4795636-trump-without-bandage-ear/.">https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4795636-trump-without-bandage-ear/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

"Trump Injured but 'fine' after Attempted Assassination at Rally, Shooter and One Attendee Are Dead." AP News, 13 July 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5. " target="blank">https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5.">https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

"Trump: We have no choice, we have to get the criminals out." YouTube. Fox News, July 24, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwjglRer90 . Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.