MILWAUKEE Donald Trump , a bandage over his right year, stepped into the spotlight at the Republican National Convention on Thursday evening as singer Lee Greenwood performed God Bless the U.S.A. Thousands of people inside Fiserv Forum had been waiting for this moment all week: The former president was finally going to address nearly being killed at a rally in Pennsylvania five days prior.

I will tell you exactly what happened, and youll never hear it from me a second time because its actually too painful to tell, Trump said, before launching into the story of a would-be assassins bullet tearing through his ear and Trump realizing that there was blood pouring everywhere.

And yet, in a certain way, I felt very safe, a seemingly subdued Trump recounted, because I had God on my side. I felt that.

A few minutes later, after saying that the bullet was a quarter-inch away from killing him, the GOP presidential nominee added: I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God. And watching the reports over the last few days, many people say it was a providential moment probably was.

The crowd roared. Trump was, in essence, saying that God may have saved his life because the Lord had chosen him to be president of the United States. This belief, that Trump has a divine right to the White House, was ubiquitous at the RNC this week, with many of his supporters, among them influential politicians and religious figures, ascribing spiritual meaning to the attempted assassination.