During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump marked the one-year anniversary of a close call with death, expressing his belief that “God alone” protected him that day.

Trump issued a press release late Sunday evening recalling the tragedy last July. 

Corey Comperatore, a retired volunteer fire chief, was attempt as he protected his wife and daughter, and two other men were seriously injured. 

Trump praised Comperatore as a “devoted husband and father” in a press release and took a moment to contemplate his own vulnerability, suggesting that a higher power preserved his life for a greater mission.

“I am firmly convinced that God alone saved me that day for a righteous purpose: to restore our beloved Republic to greatness and to rescue our Nation from those who seek its ruin,” the statement declares.

Presidential Message on the Anniversary of the Tragedy in Butler, Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/5DhdQjBknj

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) July 13, 2025