Pulitzer Prize Winner on Photographing a Bullet Whizzing by Trump

Veteran New York Times photographer Doug Mills said it was a combination of “longevity” and “luck” that led him to capture the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in a series of Pulitzer-winning photos.

“This is by far the most dangerous situation I’ve ever been in,” said Mills, who has photographed every president since 1983. He added that it was also the most historic set of pictures he’d ever taken.

The sequence of winning photos includes the moment a bullet whizzed by Trump’s head. Mills also captured the aftermath, as Trump pumped a fist and was escorted off the podium by Secret Service, blood streaking across his face.

Mills remembers being six to eight feet away when the shots rang out, and his news instincts jumping in. He didn’t know what the sounds were at first, but already had his finger on the shutter, as he was attempting to capture a photo of Trump gesturing at a chart.

“I didn’t take my finger off the shutter. I didn’t flinch,” he said, adding his experience as a sports photographer probably came into play. “I didn’t stop to look to see where the shots were coming from, but I just kept my finger on the button.”

“My instincts for shooting sports really came through because it’s so fast and you’re waiting for that one peak moment,” he said.

In the wake of the shooting, there was misinformation floating around about what had transpired. He remembers a call with New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, helping her to debunk claims that glass fragments from a teleprompter had hit Trump’s ear.

Mills said he was “stunned” after he sent his photos back to the office, when editor Jennifer Mosbrucker called to say that one of the pictures had captured the bullet midair.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.

‘You’re going to win awards with that photo’

Mills said that Trump — who has long been complimentary of his work — “marveled” at the photo on several occasions, including days after the assassination attempt backstage at the Republican National Convention.

“You’re going to win awards with that photo,” Mills said he remembers Trump telling him.

Trump has complimented the work of others that day, too.

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

Mills said that while the work done by his colleagues that day was “equally great,” he believes he received the Pulitzer because no one else captured evidence of the shooting as it was happening.

“That is what I think brought it into a new level of journalism,” he said.

‘Photographing Biden was far more challenging’

As a senior photographer for the Times who has covered presidents and campaigns since Ronald Reagan, Mills has previously won two Pulitzers for his coverage of the Clinton/Gore campaign and the Monica Lewinsky affair.

He also captured the moment former President George W. Bush was informed about the September 11 attacks in a Florida elementary school classroom.

In addition to his Pulitzers, Mills was honored for his work covering former President Joe Biden, including with a White House Correspondents’ Association award.

But Mills said the difference between photographing Biden and Trump was like “night and day.” As a career politician, Biden was a lot less outgoing during photo ops and less interested in his imagery, Mills said. It made him less dynamic and photogenic than Trump.

“Photographing Biden was far more challenging,” he said, “but it kept you on your toes.”