Trump attempted assassination suspect wrote letter outlining his plan to kill former president, prosecutors say

Dylan Stableford
Trump assassination suspect Ryan Wesley Routh
Ryan Wesley Routh at a rally in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 30, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The man who authorities say hid in the trees with a rifle on the edge of former President Donald Trump’s golf club in Florida previously wrote a letter saying “this was an assassination attempt,” federal prosecutors revealed on Monday as a judge ordered he be held without bond.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was taken into custody and charged with federal gun crimes stemming from the Sept. 15 incident at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Routh appeared in federal court on Monday for a detention hearing and was ordered to remain in jail without bond as he awaits trial on the gun charges. He has not yet entered a formal plea.

Prosecutor Mark Dispoto said in court that the government intends to ask a grand jury to charge Routh with attempting to assassinate a major political candidate, a far more serious charge.

According to court documents filed by prosecutors ahead of Monday's hearing, a witness who came forward after his arrest told federal investigators that Routh had dropped off a box at his home several months ago. After learning of the apparent assassination attempt, the witness opened the box, which contained “ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones and various letters.”

In one of the letters, addressed to “The World,” Routh wrote: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.” He offered a reward to anyone who could "finish the job."

It was one of several new details revealed about the investigation ahead of the Monday hearing.

Law enforcement officers outside the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Law enforcement officers outside the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday. (Wilfredo Lee/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Federal investigators examining the semi-automatic rifle recovered at the scene found a “latent fingerprint on a piece of tape attached to the rifle” matching Routh’s. The rifle was "loaded with a total of 11 rounds and had a round in the chamber," according to the filing.

Also recovered from the scene were shopping bags that contained ballistic plates "capable of stopping small arms fire."

During a search of Routh’s vehicle following his arrest, FBI agents found:

  • Two additional license plates

  • Six cellphones, including one that contained “a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico”

  • 12 pairs of gloves

  • A Hawaii driver’s license and U.S. passport, both belonging to Routh

  • A notebook with “dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia”

  • A handwritten list of dates and venues in August, September and October where Trump had or was expected to appear

Law enforcement officials work at the crime scene outside the Trump International Golf Club
Law enforcement officials at the Trump International Golf Club, on Sept. 16. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images) (CHANDAN KHANNA via Getty Images)

The FBI obtained cellphone records that indicate Routh traveled from the Greensboro, N.C., area to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14 and was near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and the golf course “multiple days and times” between Aug. 18 and September 15, the day he was arrested.

Cellphone location data previously revealed by the FBI indicated that Routh was in the area of the tree line at Trump’s golf course for nearly 12 hours, from just before 2 a.m. ET Sunday until about 1:30 p.m. ET, when Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent pointing a rifle through the fence while the former president was golfing. The Secret Service agent fired at Routh, who fled the scene without firing his weapon.

At a press conference the following day, U.S. Secret Service acting Director Ronald Rowe said that Routh never had line-of-sight to Trump.

The former president, who was golfing with longtime friend and adviser Steve Witkoff, was unharmed and quickly moved to a secure location.

Police arrest Ryan Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, on Sept. 15
Police arrest Ryan Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, on Sept. 15. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

In the new court filing, prosecutors say FBI agents reviewed a copy of Routh’s book, self-published in 2023, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War.”

In the book, Routh called Trump’s decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal a “tremendous blunder,” and even urged Iran to kill him.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote.

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