What we know about second Trump assassination attempt
Donald Trump has once again suggested God wants him to be president, after he survived an apparent second assassination attempt in a matter of months at his golf course in Florida.
In his first detailed account of the incident at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sunday, the Republican presidential nominee said he may have survived because “maybe God wants me to be president”.
“It was quite something but it worked out well and the Secret Service did an excellent job,” Trump added of the incident.
“All of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air … We got into the carts and we moved.
“I would have loved to have sank that last putt but we decided, let’s get out of here.”
Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number following the incident, although more charges could follow.
Read a full breakdown of they key updates or click below to skip to each section:
>Will Trump's security arrangement change?
What we know
Trump was rushed to safety on Sunday after a gunman was spotted during a round of golf at the course, which is close to his Florida residence of Mar-a-Lago.
The gunman was spotted by Secret Service agents who were scanning the golf course, in bushes along the sixth hole, one ahead of the fifth hole where Trump was putting on the green at the time.
The muzzle of a rifle, reportedly an AK-47-style weapon, was seen sticking through bushes lining the golf course, with police saying Trump was about 300 to 500 yards away from the gunman.
County sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a secret service agent "immediately engaged" with the person holding the rifle, who then fled the scene.
Agents fired four to five rounds of ammunition while engaging with the gunman, who abandoned the weapon and two knapsacks, a scope and a GoPro camera.
An eyewitness saw a man leave the bushes and get into a black Nissan vehicle, with the witness providing a photo of the car to police, allowing them to apprehend the gunman on the I-95 highway in Martin County, about 40 miles from the golf course.
On Monday, in his first detailed account of what happened, Trump told a livestream on X, formerly Twitter: "I was playing golf with some of my friends on a Sunday morning and very peaceful, very beautiful weather… and all of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five, and it sounded like bullets.
"The Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me… everybody just got into the [golf] carts, and we moved along. I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, [to] get out of [there]." He praised the Secret Service for doing an "excellent job".
The suspect in the incident had hidden out in bushes along the course for nearly 12 hours, according to his mobile phone records.
Routh was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and had travelled there after Russia's 2022 invasion, seeking to recruit foreign fighters.
In a LinkedIn post bearing the name Ryan Routh seen by Yahoo News, Routh claimed to have visited both Washington DC and Kyiv to "provide soldiers for the war effort".
In an interview with Newsweek Romania in June 2022, Routh said his initial goal was to come to Ukraine to fight, but decided to recruit other fighters due to his age and lack of military experience.
A senior official from Ukraine's Foreign Legion told CNN that Routh was offering "large numbers of recruits from different countries", but it was obvious "his offers were not realistic". He added: "The best way to describe his messages is, delusional ideas”.
CBS News reported that Routh has a criminal record and has been convicted of numerous offences in North Carolina between 2002 and 2010. His home has been searched by Secret Service and Homeland Security agents.
Asked about the attack on his visit to Rome, UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “I was very worried by the news about this attempt. Looks like an assassination attempt, very worried about it.
“Obviously, there’s now an investigation going on so I won’t say much more about the details, but I think it is really important that we’re all very, very clear that violence has no part to play at all in any political process. So, deeply troubled. Let the investigation take its place. But absolute clarity: violence, no place in political discussion at all, anywhere.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted: "I am glad to hear that @realDonaldTrump is safe and unharmed. My best wishes to him and his family.
"It’s good that the suspect in the assassination attempt was apprehended quickly. This is our principle: the rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe."
Who is Ryan Wesley Routh
Routh is reported to have lived in North Carolina for the majority of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Profiles on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn were seen by the Reuters news agency for a Ryan Routh, while public access to the Facebook and X profiles was removed hours after the shooting.
The three accounts bearing Routh's name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia.
On 21 April, Routh directed an X message to Elon Musk, in which he wrote: "I would like to buy a rocket from you. I wish to load it with a warhead for Putin's Black sea mansion bunker to end him. Can you give me a price please."
Routh told the New York Times he'd travelled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022 and was trying to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine.
"A lot of the other conflicts are grey but this conflict is definitely black and white. This is about good versus evil," Routh said in an interview posted by Newsweek Romania in June of that year. His comments suggested he was in Kyiv at the time.
When asked about what he was doing in Ukraine, Routh said his initial goal was to come to fight but after the plan did not work out, because his age and lack of military experience meant he was not accepted, he turned to promoting the cause to others.
"If the governments will not send their official military, then we, civilians, have to pick up the torch and make this thing happen and we have gotten some wonderful people here but it is a small fraction of the number that should be here," Routh said.
Routh told the Semafor news outlet in March 2023 that he had been trying to recruit US-trained Afghan fighters but that the defence ministry in Kyiv had not agreed to issue visas to them.
An official source in Kyiv told the Reuters news agency that authorities were looking into his role, if any, in Ukraine. The International Legion, where many of the fighters serve, said it had no links with Routh.
In a statement, the group said: "We would like to clarify that Ryan Wesley Routh has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity."
A senior official from Ukraine's Foreign Legion told CNN that Routh was offering "large numbers of recruits from different countries", but it was obvious "his offers were not realistic". He added: "The best way to describe his messages is, delusional ideas”.
"We didn’t even answer, there was nothing to answer to. He was never part of the legion and didn’t cooperate with us in any way."
On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and mocked Biden as "sleepy Joe."
Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X: "@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."
The suspected gunman's son, Adam, said he had not yet heard of the newest Trump assassination attempt and had "no information," adding it was not something he believed his father would do.
Another son of Routh's, Oran, told CNN in a statement that "I don't have any comment beyond a character profile of him as a loving and caring father ... I don't know what's happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion."
Will Trump's security arrangement change?
The incident will once again raise questions about Trump's security arrangements - coming several months after the former president was struck on the ear by a bullet during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire at the rally, killing one member of the crowd and critically inuring two others. Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service snipers.
On this occasion, Trump praised the Secret Service for its actions on the golf course, but it is thought his security will be upscaled once again. Former presidents are given a Secret Service detail but it is not the same level of protection as for an incumbent president.
Florida Democrat Jared Moskowitz, who is part of the task force investigating both assassination attempts, was among those calling for greater protection for the former president.
“He’s a former president running for reelection again. We have to be able to keep him safe,” Moskowitz said. “This is getting embarrassing for the agency, and people in Congress are bewildered why we’re in this situation now for a second time.”
Read more
Secret Service under fresh pressure after second Trump assassination attempt(The Telegraph)
Son of suspect speaks after apparent assassination attempt (The Guardian)
Ryan Wesley Routh: Assassination suspect who flew to Ukraine and urged Americans to join him (The Telegraph)
Second assassination attempt highlights ‘dangerous times’ for US(The Guardian)
Additional reporting from Reuters
