Donald Trump insisted he is "supposed to be dead" in his first interview after surviving an assassination attempt.

The former US president was shot in the ear during an attack at a campaign rally on Saturday which left an audience member dead and two critically injured.

Trump believes that turning his head to look at a screen may have saved his life - resulting in an injury to his right ear.

The Republican explained that he had slightly turned to the right so that he could read a chart on illegal immigrants.

"I rarely look away from the crowd. Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?," he told the New York Post.

"The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount."

He added that he survived "by luck or by God."

"If I only half-turn, it hits the back of the brain. The other way goes right through [my skull]. And because the sign was high, I'm looking up. The chances of my making a perfect turn are probably one tenth of one percent, so I'm not supposed to be here.

"I'm not supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be dead."