Donald Trump tells Americans to 'stand united' after attack

Former US Vice President Mike Pence said attacks like the one on Donald Trump must be "universally condemned."

Referring to Saturday's assassination attempt on Trump, Pence said "there is no place in America for political violence."

In an online post, the former Indiana governor said he and his wife Karen "are praying for his [Trump's[ full recovery and for those lost and injured in this horrific attack."

Pence was among Trump's most loyal supporters until the events of January 6, 2021, when he refused to block the certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

The decision caused angry Trump backers to attack the US Capitol, some calling for Pence's head. 

Pence later accused the billionaire of endangering his life and his family's through his inflammatory rhetoric ahead of the assault on the Capitol.

Trump is expected to announce his choice of vice president for the upcoming presidential election at the Republican Convention next week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has ruled out any prospect of turning again to Pence.

US President Joe Biden condemned theassassination attempt against Republican rival Donald Trump, saying the shooting was "contrary to everything we stand for as a nation."

In brief comments about the attack, Biden said he and Jill Biden were praying for the family of the person killed at the rally and that he was sincerely grateful that Trump is "doing well and recovering."

Biden said: "There's no place in America for this kind of violence or any violence for that matter."

The president said he would address the American people on TV on Sunday night on the need for unity.

"We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are," Biden added.

Biden said he has ordered a review of what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

The president has canceled a scheduled visit to Texas due to the attack, the White House announced.

The failed assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump is a case of reaping what you sow, German lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter told DW on Sunday.

"US society is quite polarized and Trump is harvesting what he seeded over the last years," the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician said.

Asked whether his comment was fair, Kiesewetter replied: "I don't know whether it's fair. It's true and that's a pity."

Trump has been a deeply divisive figure for many years, he added.

Kiesewetter described a recent event he attended at the Washington-based Hudson Institute that highlighted concerns about how polarized United States society has become and how some politicians were now taking "more challenging positions" on policy issues than even Trump.

The German lawmaker said it would be "difficult" after the US presidential electioncampaign "to bring American society together."

Political attacks are also on the rise in Germany. Kiesewetter was verbally and physically assaulted last month while campaigning for the European Parliament elections in southwestern Germany. He says it hasn't changed how he interacts with voters.

"If the more mitigating voices are withdrawn, then the radical voices become even louder," he told DW. "We must be decent and steadfast in defending our freedom of speech and the societal cohesion against these violent people."

Aside from the attack on Donald Trump, which is making headlines around the world, most people are familiar with the assassination of President John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas in 1963.

Kennedy's killing sparked a spate of conspiracy theories and remains a topic of widespread debate.

Several other US leaders have been targeted by attackers in the last 50 years, including Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.  Two other presidential candidates were also shot — one of them fatally.

DW looks back at the history of attacks on top American politicianssince the Kennedy killing.

The gunman who shot at Donald Trump at a campaign rally had explosives in his car, US media reported.

The AP news agency cited two unnamed law enforcement officials as saying that bomb-making materials were found inside the car belonging to shooter Thomas Matthew C.

There were also bomb-making materials found at his home, AP reported.

US media said the car was parked near the campaign event venue in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The assailant was shot dead by US Secret Service agents after he opened fire from the roof of a building about 140 meters (150 yards) from the stage where Trump was speaking.

An AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting was recovered near his body, which had been purchased by his father, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

In a rare political commentary, Melania Trump said the gunman who opened fire at her husband Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania was a "monster."

"A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald's passion," she wrote in a statement published on X, formerly Twitter.

Melania Trump offered her sincere condolences to "the families of the innocent victims" and thanked "the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband."

She also urged Americans to reunite and "ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence."

The Vatican hit out at the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, describing it as an attack on democracy.

"The Holy See expresses its concern following yesterday's violent episode which injures people and democracy, provoking suffering and death," the Vatican said in a statement.

"It joins the US Bishops' prayer for America, for the victims and for peace in the country, so that the motives of the violent may never prevail," the statement from spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

Pope Francis didn't mention the attack in his weekly prayers earlier Sunday.

Former US President Donald Trump thanked everyone for their "thoughts and prayers" after he was the target of what the FBI called an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

"It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social messaging platform, urging fellow Americans to unite in "not allowing Evil to Win."

He also sent his love to the other victims and their families. "We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed," he said.

Trump also said he was looking forward to speaking from Wisconsin, where the Republican National Convention will be held this week and where he is set to be officially nominated as the party's candidate for the November presidential election.

"In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined," Trump said.

It is his second post since he was shot and injured at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

The Kremlin said it did not believe the US President Joe Biden's administration was responsible for Saturday's assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but that it had created an atmosphere that provoked the attack.

"We do not believe that the attempt to eliminate and assassinate Trump was organized by the current authorities," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "But the atmosphere around candidate Trump ... provoked what America is confronting today."

"After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena ... it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger," Peskov said.

He also said that the Kremlin strongly condemns any violence in the context of politics, and that there were no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin to call Trump in light of the incident.

Germany's head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has condemned the apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump and expressed deep sympathy with the family of a man killed in the shooting at a campaign rally.

"I condemn the attack on the 45th US president, Donald J. Trump," he said in a press statement.

"Violence must not have any place in our democracy — not in America, not here," Steinmeier said.

The president called on everyone to refrain from the use of violence for political ends and to ensure that hate and incitement did not form part of election campaigns and debates.

"Democracy can take sharp controversies, but violence destroys democracy," he said, going on to wish Trump and those injured in the shooting a speedy recovery while sending "deepest condolences" to the family of the rally spectator who died.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has condemned the apparent assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, who suffered injuries to his ear in the attack at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

"I am shocked by the attempted assassination on former President Trump. I wish him a speedy recovery and my thoughts are with those affected," Stoltenberg said on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

"I condemn this attack. Political violence has no place in our democracies. NATO Allies stand together to defend our freedom & values," he went on.

During his presidency from 2017 to 2020 and beyond,Trump has often made remarks that seem to undermine the ongoing validity of the Western military alliance.

Above all, he has criticized many member states for allegedly contributing too little to NATO, thus overburdening the US.

Polish President  Andrzej Duda has called the apparent attempt to kill Donald Trump "a shocking moment not just for America but for the whole free and democratic world."

"Together with your loved ones and all the people of good will, I thank God for saving your life," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"I wish you a speedy recovery and hope that the sustained injuries are not serious and that you will fully recover soon," he continued.

Conservative Duda visited Trump in New York in April, with both men stressing their close friendship with one another.

The visit drew considerable criticism in Poland, where many fear that a renewed Trump presidency could lead to reduced US support for Ukraine as it fights against an ongoing Russian invasion, thus endangering the security not just of Poland itself but of all of Europe.

Duda himself has strongly condemned the Russian invasion, though he in February provoked some consternation over remarks suggesting that Crimea might have to remain under Russian rule. The Crimean Peninsula, a Ukrainian region, was annexed by Russia in 2014. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she was deeply shocked by the news of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, which signals "dark hours" for American democracy.

"Violence must never become a means of political conflict, for any reason whatsoever," the minister wrote wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"In democracies, elections are decided by ballot papers and not by weapons. In these dark hours for American democracy, my thoughts are with the victims of the attack. I wish Donald Trump and the other injured people a speedy recovery," Baerbock added.

China's President Xi Jinping "expressed sympathy" to Donald Trump after the shooting incident at his election rally in Pennsylvania, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

"President Xi Jinping has expressed his condolences to former President Trump," China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also said it is following the situation surrounding the shooting incident.

Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that violent incidents like the one in Pennsylvania are a threat to democracy and gave his wishes to Donald Trump for a speedy recovery.

"The attack on US presidential candidate Donald Trump is despicable," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"My thoughts are also with the people who were affected by the attack," he wrote, adding: "Such acts of violence threaten democracy."