NEW: ‘Grateful’ Trump Breaks Silence On Assassination Attempt, Details His Injuries In Candid Interview

A reinvigorated President Donald Trump took to the airwaves on Monday, describing the “very surreal experience” that nearly took his life on Saturday and crediting the Secret Service with tackling him like “football linebackers” to save him from a deranged gunman.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” the former president told the New York Post in an exclusive interview. “I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said. “I’m supposed to be dead.”

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Aboard his private plane en route to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the 45th president sounded incredulous as he described how lucky he was to turn his head and look at a chart about illegal immigration less than a second before a round from a reported AR-15 nicked his ear. “The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” said Trump. The Post added he was wrapped in a large white head bandage after arriving at the hospital but staff ordered that no photos be taken.

Photos from the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania show a bloody aftermath. Despite being boxed in on all sides by Secret Service agents, President Trump rose to his feet and raised a fist in the air as the photographers snapped historic photos of blood streaking down his face from the wound to his right ear. Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old loner who took the shot from a rooftop adjacent to the stage, was killed by a Secret Service sniper rifleman.

Going on, President Trump said he pleaded with officers to let him continue speaking but they insisted the stage was compromised and moved him to a waiting vehicle where he was taken to a hospital for evaluation. He marveled at how the bulky, suit-clad servicemen hit him like “linebackers” as soon as the shooting started and rolled up his right sleeve to show a nasty bruise where one of them fell on him.

“The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he said with a smile. He credited the firing agent with executing a perfect headshot on Crooks who was firing from over 400 feet away. “They took him out with one shot right between the eyes,” Trump said.

“They did a fantastic job,” he added. “It’s surreal for all of us.”

Asked what he was saying while raising his fist, President Trump revealed he yelled “fight!” three times, prompting the paralyzed crowd to break into chants of “USA! USA! USA!”

“A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.”

He added, “I just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot.” Trump also said that the doctor who treated him admitted he had never seen anyone survive being shot by an AR-15 before. “By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God I’m still here,” he said.

The bedlam took the life of Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old “girl dad” who died protecting his daughter and family. Two others behind Trump on stage were critically injured but so far have clung to life. Before ending his interview, President Trump turned to his aides and said, “Get the numbers, I want to go to the hospital and call all the families.”

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