‘I took a bullet for democracy,’ Trump declares in comeback US rally

Donald Trump, holding his first campaign rally on Saturday since surviving an assassination attempt, dismissed concerns that he is a threat to democracy, triumphantly telling a cheering crowd: "Last week I took a bullet for democracy."

"I'm not an extremist at all," he continued at the rally in the swing state of Michigan, dismissing his alleged links to Project 2025, a radical shadow manifesto led by figures close to him that has been described by opponents as an authoritarian, right-wing wish list.

And he mocked the rival Democratic Party, roiled by unprecedented pressure for President Joe Biden to abandon the White House race amid concerns over his age and fitness to serve, if reelected, until 2029.

"They have no idea who their candidate is... This guy goes and he gets the votes, and now they want to take it away. That's democracy," Trump told the 12,000-strong crowd of passionate supporters.

Even as he veered into his typical, rambling campaign speech, the rally represented a moment remarkable by any measure, with Trump back on stage exactly one week since a gunman tried to kill him.

The Republican presidential nominee appeared wearing a new, smaller, flesh-coloured bandage over his right ear, bloodied in the attack by a 20-year-old gunman at a rally in Pennsylvania that killed one bystander.

'God on my side'

Security was reportedly tight inside the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, amid questions over Secret Service lapses at the Pennsylvania rally — though there were few visible signs of any greater law enforcement presence.

Team Trump, for its part, is effervescent after an exceptional streak of luck -- from the failed assassination bid to favourable court rulings and Biden's disastrous debate performance last month.

"I had God on my side," he told the Republican National Convention Thursday, at which he demonstrated his absolute control over the party, firing supporters up to a rare pitch.

Saturday was Trump's debut campaign appearance with running mate JD Vance, a US senator from Ohio who at age 39 could help win over critical swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Ahead of Trump's speech, Vance warmed up the crowd, taking a swipe at Harris.

"I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and build a business. What the hell have you done, other than collect a check?" he said of the former US senator and California attorney general.