From defeat to dominance: How Trump climbed back to the top of the Republican Party

MILWAUKEE — Save for the very tip of his ear, Donald Trump literally dodged a bullet Saturday. Then, he rose to his feet. With blood streaked across his right cheek and drawn lips, the once and possibly future president pumped his fist in the air.

In just a handful of frames, the most terrifying moment of the 2024 presidential election — a barely failed assassination attempt — became a visual metaphor for the much longer arc of Trump's resurrection from the depths of political ignominy to the edge of the most powerful perch in politics.

The anti-establishment outsider who thumbed his nose at political norms has built his comeback by executing on a more traditional and practical brand of politics.

His emphasis on "unity" at this week's Republican National Convention is not the sign of a pivot. Instead, it is the shopworn watchword of candidates who believe they are winning — one that puts a trailing rival between the rock of agreeing not to fight and the hard place of risking blame for any discord.

Trump vowed that he wouldn't play "prevent defense" in this election — that he wouldn't sit on a lead and try to run out the clock. But that's exactly what he did by skipping Republican primary debates, stepping into the shadows to keep a spotlight on President Joe Biden's struggles in recent weeks and conducting a vice presidential searchthat — in traditional fashion — landed on the candidate he'd started with: Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

It remains to be seen whether Trump will reach the summit of the Oval Office again, but his resurgence already ranks among the most unlikely displays of political staying power in American history.

The first spark

When Trump left the White House kicking and screaming, lying about his election loss