Trump in Michigan to host first rally since Butler shooting

Donald Trump will host his first rally in public since a gunman shot him in the ear in an attempt to take his life last week at an event in Pennsylvania.

Trump is scheduled to address a crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan around 17:00 EST (22:00 BST) on Saturday.

It is one of several campaign stops the former president has made to the key battleground state as polls show him in a close race against President Joe Biden.

The rally comes on the heels of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump officially accepted his party’s presidential nomination and delivered his first public address since the assassination attempt.

The rally also marks the first time Trump will appear on the campaign trail with his vice-presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Mr Biden, meanwhile, has had to pause campaign events after testing positive for COVID-19. He continues to resist growing calls from members of his own party to drop out of the race due to concerns about his age and cognitive abilities.

Trump has for the most part stayed silent about the drama rocking the Democratic Party, focusing on attacks on Mr Biden’s administration in a speech he gave at the Republican convention.

During the hour and a half speech, he discussed deporting migrants en masse and inflation concerns while also recounting the attack 13 July that nearly killed him in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I'm not supposed to be here," he told the crowd, adding: "I had God on my side”.

Trump's campaign also announced that it plans to hold its next rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on 24 July at the Bojangles Coliseum.

Security will be tight at the Grand Rapids rally in the aftermath of the Butler rally, experts told the BBC.

Investigators have still yet to name a motive for the 20-year-old gunman who shot Trump and was later killed by Secret Service agents.

The agency has faced intense scrutiny over how the gunman was able to fire from a building nearby after rallygoers pointed him out to police.

Because the Grand Rapids event is indoors, it will be much easier to secure than the Butler rally, which was outside, former Secret Service agent Jason Russell told the BBC.

There will be metal detectors that rallygoers will walk through, while military personnel will search the whole building beforehand, Mr Russell said.

Trump will likely not be seen until he actually takes the stage, with many of his Secret Service staff in tow.

“You’ll have a pretty, pretty significant number of agents on site,” Mr Russell said.