Rhode Island
Trump describes assassination attempt in speech accepting GOP presidential nomination • Rhode Island Current
MILWAUKEE — Donald Trump in an unusual speech accepting the GOP presidential nomination Thursday at the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention gave a detailed account about the attempt on his life last weekend when a gunman shot at him during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“I will tell you exactly what happened. And you’ll never hear it from me a second time because it’s actually too painful to tell,” Trump said in his first public remarks about the shooting that killed one rally goer and injured two others. The gunman was killed by law enforcement at the scene.
Turning his head to look at a chart, which was later displayed on multiple screens inside the Fiserv Forum, is what saved his life, Trump said.
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,” Trump recalled. “I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet.’ I moved my hand to my right ear, brought it down, and my hand was covered with blood.”
Trump said he knew immediately that he was “under attack” and praised the Secret Service agents for rushing on stage to shield him with their own bodies, calling them “great people” who took “great risk,” to applause from the crowd.
He thanked the supporters in attendance last weekend for not panicking and stampeding, which can cause injuries and deaths during a mass shooting.
Trump in his 90-minute remarks appeared to seriously reflect on how close he came to being killed at one point, commenting that he wasn’t sure he was meant to survive the attack.
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said, before the crowd began chanting, “Yes, you are!”
“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God,” he added.
Republicans’ bestowal of the nomination on Trump at the finale of their convention is significant in that he becomes the first convicted felon to accept a major political party’s presidential nod. Trump still faces charges in multiple criminal cases after one of the cases was dropped earlier this week.
Divine intervention seen
Trump’s comments about being saved by God followed days of politicians from throughout the country claiming the bullet only grazing his ear was an act of divine intervention.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, from Detroit, said earlier in the night that people “can’t deny the power of God” in Trump’s life.
“You can’t deny that God protected him, you cannot deny that it was a millimeter miracle that was able to save this man’s life,” Sewell said. “Could it be that Jesus Christ preserved him for such a time as this?”
“Could it be that the King of Glory, the Lord God, strong and mighty, the God who is mighty in battle, protected Donald Trump, because he wants to use him for such a time as this?” Sewell added.
Tucker Carlson, former Fox News television personality and conservative pundit, said that “a lot of people” are wondering what’s going on following the shooting on Saturday.
“Something bigger is going on here. I think people who don’t even believe in God are starting to think, ‘Well, maybe there’s something to this,’” Carlson said. “And I’m starting to think it’s going to be okay, actually.”
Trump wore a white bandage on his right ear concealing the wound he received last Saturday before Secret Service agents rushed to shield him from bullets.
Trump spoke about Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief attending the rally with his family, who was killed in the shooting as well as the two people who were injured.
Trump called Comperatore a “highly respected” fire chief before walking over to his fire jacket and helmet, which had been placed on the stage, and kissing the helmet in a solemn moment.
Trump said he spoke with Comperatore’s wife as well as the two injured people earlier in the day, who were doing “very well” in recovering from their injuries. The convention then observed a moment of silence for Comperatore.
GOP seeks unity as Democrats debate Biden’s fate
The Republican National Convention and Trump’s acceptance speech provided a prime opportunity for the GOP to show unity as Democrats increasingly questioned whether President Joe Biden should formally become their nominee in the weeks ahead.
Trump repeatedly criticized Democrats’ policies and said they were a threat to the country’s future, though he only mentioned Biden once, saying the damage the current president could inflict on the country is “unthinkable.”
“If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States… and added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done,” Trump said.
Voters, he said, must “rescue our nation from failed and even incompetent leadership” by voting for him and Republicans during November’s election.
“This will be the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said.
‘The stakes have never been higher,’ Biden campaign says
Biden-Harris Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon released a written statement rebuking Trump’s speech, saying he “rambled on for well over an hour.”
“He failed to mention how he had inflicted pain and cruelty on the women of America by overturning Roe v Wade. He failed to mention his plan to take over the civil service and to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists,” Dillon wrote.
Biden, on the other hand, is “running for an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it,” she wrote.
“The stakes have never been higher,” Dillon wrote. “The choice has never been more clear. President Biden is more determined than ever to defeat Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda in November.”
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a written statement that in “Trump’s Republican Party, there’s only space for unquestioning loyalists who will put him above our democracy, above our freedoms, and above working families.”
“Over the past four days, we’ve seen speakers endorse a far-right, dangerous vision that would see Americans’ basic liberties stripped away and replace the rule of law with the rule of Trump,” Harrison wrote. “No amount of desperate spin can change how unpopular and out of touch their disastrous plans are for the American people.”
No stain left by Jan. 6
Trump’s speech solidified a significant turnaround for the former president, who earned rebukes from many of the party’s leaders following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The events of that day, which led to the deaths of police officers and ended the country’s centuries-long peaceful transition of power, would traditionally have been viewed as a black spot by the party that lauds itself as supporting “law and order” as well as the country’s founding principles.
Instead, Trump has succeeded in convincing his supporters that the people convicted for violent acts should be pardoned as “political prisoners” and the several court cases against him are about his politics and not his actions.
Top Trump campaign official Chris LaCivita refused to say earlier Thursday during an event near the RNC whether Trump would continue to campaign on the promise to pardon Jan. 6 defendants, or “hostages” as he has described them numerous times.
Trump said Thursday night that nothing would prevent him from becoming president following November’s election.
“Our resolve is unbroken and our purpose is unchanged — to deliver a government that serves the American people better than ever before,” Trump said.
“Nothing will stop me to this vision, because our vision is righteous and our cause is pure,” Trump added. “No matter what obstacle comes our way, we will not break, we will not bend, we will not back down and I will never stop fighting for you.”
Trump’s loss of the popular vote and the Electoral College four years ago led him to make false claims about election fraud, which never bore fruit. Judges threw out numerous court challenges.
Trump faces federal felony charges that he conspired to create false slates of electors in seven states and attempted to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
That, however, hasn’t stopped Trump from repeating the claim and making it a hallmark of his third run for the Oval Office.
Trump reiterated many of those incorrect claims during his speech to applause and cheers from the crowd gathered inside Fiserv Forum.
“They used COVID to cheat,” he said.
Trump: ‘We must not criminalize dissent’
Despite his incessant encouragement of rally chants during the 2016 campaign to lock up former Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, and a willingness to explore jailing his rivals if he wins in November, Trump said “we must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement.”
In addition to the federal 2020 election subversion charges, Trump faces racketeering charges in Georgia, sentencing over a guilty verdict in New York, and federal charges over allegedly stealing and hiding classified government documents after leaving the Oval Office.
Federal District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday dropped the classified documents case on the grounds that the government illegally appointed a special counsel to prosecute it. The Department of Justice has since appealed.
The former president reminded the crowd of the “major ruling that was handed down from a highly respected federal judge.”
“If the Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts,” Trump said.
‘Stop wars with a telephone call’
Trump said the “planet is teetering on the edge of World War Three” and he will “end every single international crisis that the current administration has created.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 “would have never happened if I was president,” he said, repeating the same claim about the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
“I tell you this, we want our hostages back and they better be back,” Trump said later in the speech about Israeli-American hostages still in Hamas captivity.
Trump praised Victor Orbán — the Hungarian prime minister known for his authoritarian streak — which the crowd cheered. He also touted his friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
He said the press criticized him for his congeniality with Kim, but “it’s nice to get along with someone who has a lot of nuclear weapons,” Trump said.
“I could stop wars with a telephone call,” Trump said, but immediately followed with a promise to “build an Iron Dome missile defense system to ensure that no enemy can strike our homeland.”
Trump’s ‘only crime’ is ‘loving America’
Speakers rallying the crowd before Trump’s appearance on Thursday exalted his golf game and business management style, and defended the former president, who they say supports them through long-established ties.
“To me, he is my friend,” Trump’s attorney Alina Habba said tearfully.
“Sham indictments and baseless allegations will not deter us, because the only crime President Trump has committed is loving America,” she said.
Trump’s 2020 election subversion case has sat in a holding pattern for months while he appealed his claim of presidential immunity to the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices returned the case to the trial court after issuing a 6-3 majority opinion in early July that grants broad immunity for former presidents’ official acts.
Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in New York state court for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment by his personal lawyer to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
However, the New York judge handling the case has delayed Trump’s sentencing while his lawyers challenge the case, arguing the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling opens questions about what evidence against a former sitting president can be admitted to court.
Pompeo says no Putin in Ukraine under Trump
Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former CIA director and secretary of State, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and deaths of its civilians on “weakness” of the Biden administration.
“Last week, we saw what it meant — that Children’s Hospital bombed, innocents killed — it did not have to be,” Pompeo said, referring to the July 8 Russian strike on the medical facility in Kyiv.
World leaders from NATO etched a path for Ukraine to join the alliance at the July summit in Washington, D.C, and pledged more resources for the nation that Russia further invaded in February 2022.
Trump has long criticized NATO, dismissing the post-WWII alliance’s core tenet that an attack against one is an attack against all and threatening to withdraw over funding.
In February he told a rally crowd in South Carolina that he would “encourage (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want” to “delinquent” member countries that do not pay 2% of their GDP on defense.
All members agreed to a 2% commitment in 2014, and 23 are on track to meet the target this year, according to the alliance.
On Wednesday night at the RNC, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, echoed Trump’s words and declared “no more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer.”
Lia Chien contributed to this report.
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 8, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from May 8 drawing
37-47-49-51-58, Mega Ball: 16
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Numbers numbers from May 8 drawing
Midday: 9-8-9-7
Evening: 7-9-8-9
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from May 8 drawing
10-13-15-16-30, Extra: 09
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 8 drawing
14-16-21-43-51, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
The tectonic plates of Rhode Island politics keep shifting, but does the state really change? Thanks for stopping by. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.
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1. STORY OF THE WEEK
Fifteen years after starting his first term in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, Chris Blazejewski has ascended to the pinnacle of power, winning an overwhelming 65-10 vote Thursday to become the new House speaker. Blazejewski’s path was paved when he teamed up with Joe Shekarchi on the leadership team after Nicholas Mattiello lost his state rep seat in 2020. Over time, a few things stand out about the 46-year-old lawyer variously known as Chris, Blaz, and Blaze. He has impressive academic credentials, including two degrees from Harvard. Blazejewski is known for his devotion to his wife, Ami Gada, and their two young children, Aria and Liam. Blazejewski represents a safely Democratic seat based in Fox Point. He was a loyal ally to Shekarchi, patiently biding his time. At his essence, Blazejewski has an appreciation for progressive politics, but he’s also an institutionalist steeped in the culture of the House of Representatives and grounded by the fiscal challenges of Rhode Island’s budgetary outlook. A fanciful skit for the bygone Providence Newspaper Guild Follies could feature Blazejewski pursuing a utopian scheme – perhaps nationalizing Rhode Island’s strategic reserve of coffee milk. Back in the real world, though, a number of factors – including the array of Democratic views in the House and the state’s structural deficit – seem likely to temper the new speaker’s progressive impulse. In the first question he took after his win, Blazejewski told me his core values as a Democrat include helping working people, improving healthcare and public education, protecting the environment and guarding against federal overreach. The devil is in the details, of course, and the proof of how Blazejewski influences state policy will be in the pudding. He’ll have his initial test next month when the House rolls out its version of the budget, with a big potential impact from President Trump’s spending bill.
2. WINDS OF CHANGE
Speaker Blazejewski is 17 years younger than his predecessor and he’s one of just six state representatives left from the incoming class of 2010. (The others are Reps. David Bennett of Warwick, Teresa Tanzi of South Kingstown, Ray Hull of Providence, Robert Phillips of Woonsocket and GOP House Leader Michael Chippendale of Foster). His ascent reflects generational change and how progressives have nudged the House in a more progressive direction over the last 15 years. Blazejewski’s predecessor in District 2, David Segal – once dubbed the hippest guy in state government – was among those who came to the House chamber to congratulate him. Segal was part of an early boomlet of progressive wins in the House, along with Chris Fierro and the late Ray Sullivan. But none of them stayed long. Instead, the growing proportion of women lawmakers over time has fueled a move away from the socially conservative/pro-2A Democratic center of gravity that formerly typified the House. That also explains how former House Majority Whip Katherine Kazarian of East Providence made history this week, beaming in her new role as the first female majority leader in the House. “I have a feeling, Katie,” Blazejewski said in his speech from the rostrum, “that this is not the last of your firsts.”
3. REALITY CHECK
The passing of the torch from Joe Shekarchi to Chris Blazejewski mixed celebration and bittersweetness in the House chamber. For Blazejewski, it’s the culmination of a long journey. It’s also the end of an era for Shekarchi, whose voice broke with emotion as he gave a parting speech reflecting on more than five years in what is sometimes called Rhode Island’s most powerful political post. He took credit for changing the House culture “into a more positive member-driven body where all perspectives are heard, respected and valued.” Speaking to what he sees as his legacy, Shekarchi cited progress on housing, healthcare, education funding, pay equity and other issues. There was a buzz of goodwill in the House chamber for the departing speaker and the new team rising in power. But Rhode Island’s thorniest challenges – the housing crisis, insufficient drivers of economic growth, under-performing public schools, and lower insurance reimbursement than in neighboring states – never remain far away.
4. NEXT STEP
Roger Williams University School of Law professor Michael J. Yelnosky is the most outspoken critic of former Speaker Joe Shekarchi’s application to move directly to the Rhode Island Supreme Court from the General Assembly. Shekarchi said he has studied the revolving door law and is convinced it doesn’t apply to the Supreme Court. A complaint filed by Yelnosky with the state Ethics Commission may be taken up during the commission’s next meeting, on June 2. A number of prominent people, including Gov. Dan McKee and candidate Helena Foulkes, have said they don’t see a problem with Shekarchi’s application. Speaking from the rostrum Thursday, Speaker Blazejewski said he believes Shekarchi will make a great justice.
5. THE MILITARY
The Pentagon’s recent $25 billion estimate for the cost of the war in Iran doesn’t come close to resembling the true amount, according to Stephanie Savell, director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University. “That is just the very smallest tip of the iceberg,” Savell said during a One on One interview with me this week. The bigger point is the huge amount of economic cost being accumulated by the U.S., she said, with no end in sight. Savell said the U.S. now owes $31 trillion in debt, largely from post-9/11 wars and a series of tax cuts, and she said 15% of the federal budget goes for that each year. “I have to get in front of my college students and tell them ‘Our leaders have made a decision to saddle you with a tremendous amount of debt that’s gonna affect all of the things that you care about,’” Savell said. We also talked about drones, Rhode Island’s defense sector, whether other forms of spending are more efficient and more.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo joined CNN to talk about the cost of gas.
Stephanie Savell, director of the Costs of War project at Brown University, says much of the United States’ massive defense budget could be better spent on education, health care and green energy
6. CITY HAUL
Providence City Councilor Ana Vargas pulled in the biggest campaign fundraising of her career – more than $16,000 – as the council was approaching a vote on rent stabilization. Landlords flooded her campaign account, as my colleague Ben Berke reports, and she took their side in two votes. As Ben reports, “Prior to the rent control debate, Vargas had been one of the city council’s least prolific fundraisers, raising an average of $873 per quarter. She began 2026 with just $426 in her campaign account, and received only two campaign contributions all of last year.” Vargas declined an interview request and she did not respond to additional requests for comment.
Providence City Councilor Ana Vargas supported rent control during her election campaign. As she prepared to vote on it, she received the largest political donations of her career
7. BARGAIN HUNT
Democrat Wil Gregersen got in touch after going unmentioned in last week’s column in an item on first-quarter fundraising by candidates for governor. As Gregersen noted, he has more in his campaign account ($473.60) than some of those who were mentioned. “I’m serious about my candidacy,” he wrote. “Money is corrupting, and I’m purposely staying off the usual path candidates take to get elected.” Gregersen, a librarian in Warwick, proposes single-payer healthcare, a publicly owned energy utility and more – without explaining how he would pay to do this. Candidates like Gregersen and independent candidate for governor Paul Rianna Jr. run in every statewide election cycle, attracting a small amount of votes. Like it or not, campaign fundraising is a big part of our politics – a situation intensified by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010. The only counter-example in recent Rhode Island history is the late Robert “Cool Moose” Healey, who won 21% of the vote for governor in 2014 while barely spending any money. But that was after a half-dozen or so runs for statewide office and Healey understood how to use schtick to gain wider recognition. Something he told me in 2002 about the challenge facing third-party candidates seems apt for those hoping to run a statewide campaign without significant fundraising: “It’s about being outside the mainstream, being able to challenge the status quo. As one person said to me, `You can’t beat City Hall, but you can piss on the steps.’”
8. THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT
The latest data from Rhode Island KIDS COUNT shows that more Rhode Island children (16.3%) live in poverty than the national average. The rate in Newport, a city known more for tourism and Gilded Age mansions, is 32%. “We see kids with mental health challenges, challenges in school, difficulty in school, mental behavioral health,” KIDS COUNT Executive Director Paige Parks told Luis Hernandez in an interview. “It all stems from poverty.” She urges state lawmakers to continue to invest in early childhood programs and Rhode Island Works, a workforce development program for low-income families.
9. RI POLI-MEDIA PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
State Rep. Julie Casimiro (D-North Kingstown) is not seeking re-election, and former Sen. James Sheehan – motivated by the controversial sludge proposal – may run for the seat. Casimiro had been considered a top target for the League of Rhode Island Businesses …. Nick Fede, who spoke with me for a previous story about the challenge facing small brewers in RI, has won election as president of American Beverage Licensees, a leading national trade association …. Haley Gervino is the new executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence. A graduate of Providence College and Brandeis University, she serves as VP of operations for Sisters in Public Health …. Will this be the year when Drinking Liberally seeds new statewide leaders? Speaker Blazejewski hosted the bygone beer-and-chat series at the Wild Colonial back in the day. Another host was Kim Ahern, one of four Democrats running for AG …. Danica Iacoi, who served as chief legal counsel for former Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, is back in that role with Blazejewski.
10. OLD SCHOOL
Eighty percent of Americans think there should be age caps on serving in Congress, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. As NPR’s Elena Moore reports, “The current Congress is now the third-oldest in U.S. history, and has seen five members die since last March. Each was 65 or older. For some voters, the widening age difference between them and members of Congress is contributing to an already growing disconnect that they feel with leaders.”
11. KICKER
Betting has become inextricably intertwined with professional sports, with predictable results. Now, as NPR’s Luke Garrett reports, campaign staffers are getting in on the action, making thousands by betting on their own candidates. What could possibly go wrong, eh? U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner said his office has implemented a prohibition on participating in prediction markets or wagering on political, legislative, regulatory, geopolitical or other outcomes.
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Numbers numbers from May 7 drawing
Midday: 9-3-7-1
Evening: 1-8-1-8
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from May 7 drawing
12-13-19-22-29, Extra: 02
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 7 drawing
05-08-21-44-48, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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