Trump in the Crosshairs
6th July 2025
interstates. It isn’t that she’s avoiding speeding maniacs—you can find them on any Pittsburgh street—but she loves to see the local color and variety one can spy on pre-1950s U.S. highways.
This tells us something essential about Zito’s worldview: that she’s acutely conscious of place, as she compellingly demonstrates throughout this powerful and often charming book. On July 13, 2024, Zito was in Butler, Pa., to interview Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump right after an outdoor rally at the county Farm Show Complex. When Trump narrowly avoided death as a gunman’s bullet nipped his right ear, Zito was just feet away. A memorable Associated Press photograph shows her splayed out face-down on the ground, easily identifiable to friends and fans by her signature tricolor cowboy boots.
But the following day was almost equally unforgettable. “Good morning, Salena! It’s Donald Trump. I wanted to see if you and your daughter Shannon and Michael are okay. And I wanted to apologize that we weren’t able to do the interview.” Zito was stunned; her photojournalist daughter and son-in-law had been introduced to Trump just before the rally, too.