Exactly a week after the July 13 shooting in Pennsylvania that left Trump with a bloodied ear, killed one man in the crowd and left two others injured, the former president opened the rally to a huge crowd.
He offered a "very special thanks to Americans nationwide, including all of you here today for your extraordinary outpouring of love and support in the wake of the horrific last Saturday evening".
The crowd responded by chanting, "Fight, fight, fight!" The gauze on Trump's ear appeared to have been replaced by a skin-coloured bandage.
Trump was joined by Ohio Senator JD Vance at the pair's first event together since they became the Republican Party's nominees at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
"I find it hard to believe that a week ago, an assassin tried to take Donald Trump's life, and now we have got a hell of a crowd in Michigan to welcome him back on the campaign trail," Vance said, speaking before Trump's arrival.
"I chose him because he's for the worker," Trump said of Vance.
Hours before he took the stage, Trump's supporters crowded the streets of downtown Grand Rapids in anticipation of the former president's remarks.
Supporters began lining up Friday morning, and by Saturday afternoon, the line stretched close to a mile from the venue's entrance.
Close to an hour before he was set to take the stage, supporters had filled nearly every seat in the 12,000-person Van Andel Arena.
Many were seen wearing shirts featuring the image of Trump, on stage, after he was shot, pumping his fist in the air after surviving the shooting, along with the usual red Make America Great Again hats.
Mike Gaydos, who travelled from Indiana with his three sons to attend the rally, said he didn't consider himself a "huge" Trump supporter in the past but wanted to show support for the former president following his attempted assassination.
"We can't allow something like that to collar us," he said. "Bravery is what I thought he showed that day and I want to show my sons about bravery as well."
Downtown Grand Rapids also saw a significant police presence, with officers stationed on nearly every block, while others patrolled on horseback and bicycles.
Attendees were required to pass through a metal detector upon entering the indoor arena, yet the presence of security inside appeared consistent with previous events.
"This is the tightest I've ever seen the security," said Renee White, who said she's been to 33 of Trump's rallies. "We usually can bring in some small bags but today I had to just leave stuff out there."
White was seated behind the podium at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop. She described the shooting as "surreal" but said that it wouldn't stop her from going to rallies.
"If I'm going to be taken out, at least I'm doing something I love to do, right?" said White.
Michigan is one of the handful of crucial swing states expected to determine the outcome of November's presidential election.
Trump narrowly won the state by just more than 10,000 votes in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden flipped it back in 2020, winning by a margin of 154,000 votes on his way to the presidency.
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