How Trump Credits a Border Crossing Chart for Saving His Life and What It Omits

Since the assassination attempt at his rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump has expressed a strong affinity for a bar chart he believes saved his life.

While speaking at a rally in Butler about illegal immigration, Trump was reviewing a chart that depicted U.S.-Mexico border crossings during his administration and President Joe Biden’s term. Trump had his head turned to the right to examine the graphic on a projection screen when shots were fired. One bullet grazed his right ear.

He has stated that having his head turned “probably saved my life,” that he loves the chart “more than I even love the police” and that he will “sleep with that chart for the rest of my life.” The chart has become a regular fixture at his campaign events, and he is likely to display it again when he returns to Butler on Saturday.

The chart helps the Republican presidential nominee connect a defining moment in his 2024 campaign with his signature issue since entering politics. It also illustrates how the Trump campaign has addressed immigration, advocating for stricter border measures while omitting or misrepresenting key aspects of his record.

Here is more information about the chart and how Trump has utilized it.

A senator gave Trump the chart while on his plane

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he was on Trump’s plane in April, traveling from an Easter family holiday in Florida to campaign events in the Midwest. During the flight, Johnson showed Trump the chart, which highlights a significant increase in encounters with migrants at the southern border based on data collected by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Trump requested that Johnson send it to his communications team, who subsequently modified the title, description, and some annotations. The chart was then unveiled at an event with law enforcement officers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that same day. At that event, Trump referred to undocumented individuals suspected of committing crimes as “animals.”

“It’s obvious what the Biden administration has done in that chart. It shows what Trump had to deal with and how he successfully dealt with it,” Johnson said in an interview. “And then it shows just the explosion of illegal immigration under President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris.”

Border crossings reached record highs during the Biden administration but have declined since Biden implemented an executive order to restrict asylum claims earlier this year.

Harris’ presidential campaign blames Trump for pressuring Republican lawmakers not to support a bipartisan border security package that Democrats claim would have helped resolve a broken immigration system.

The chart shows border crossings hit record highs

The Border Patrol has recorded approximately 7.1 million arrests of individuals crossing illegally from Mexico since the start of the Biden administration through July, although many of these arrests involved repeat crossers. Trump frequently criticizes Biden and Harris for allowing record-high numbers, often claiming without evidence that the figure is upwards of 30 million.

The chart references policies implemented by Trump, such as “Remain in Mexico,” a program requiring asylum seekers to wait south of the border that Biden discontinued upon taking office. These policies are intended to demonstrate that Trump effectively reduced border crossings during his term.

The chart’s description states “Biden world record illegal immigrants, many from prisons and mental institutions,” a claim Trump often makes at rallies despite the absence of evidence that countries are sending criminals or individuals with mental illnesses across the border.

The chart leaves out family separation

The graphic incorrectly identifies the month Trump left office, indicating it as if it occurred during the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic led to travel restrictions and a significant decrease in arrivals. Prior to the pandemic, the Trump administration also struggled to manage large influxes of migrants.

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., recently presented the chart at a congressional hearing to highlight this error.

“It’s important to note and to point out how incorrect it actually is,” he said, as he pointed out that border encounters had started to trend upwards in the months that followed and while Trump was still in office.

The chart also omits what was arguably Trump’s most controversial immigration policy. Between 2017 and 2018, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself halted under pressure from his own party.

Trump rarely discusses family separation. Last weekend, Trump claimed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for separating children from their parents.

The former president has vowed to conduct the largest mass deportation operation, prioritizing migrants with criminal records. Trump has stated that he could rely on like-minded governors to provide National Guard support for deportations.

Trump frequently shows the chart

The chart was displayed on numerous screens onstage during his Republican National Convention speech less than a week after the Butler rally.

“The last time I put up that chart, I never really got to look at it,” he said. “But without that chart, I would not be here today.”

Trump also brought the chart on his recent border visit to Arizona, displaying it on a piece of paper as he spoke from a podium below a desert hill. He has been using it increasingly since the assassination attempt, often recounting the story of how it saved his life.

Johnson says he is glad to have played “a small little role.”

“Either the hand of God or just plain serendipity is why he avoided being assassinated, quite honestly,” he said. “That’s just the historical fact now.”

He would not disclose whether Trump has mentioned anything about the chart to him since the assassination attempt. “Those are private conversations,” he said.