Fort Lauderdale: Former president Donald Trump is safe after what the FBI says “appears to be an attempted murder” while he was golfing two months after another attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Local authorities said U.S. Secret Service agents protecting Trump shot a man who was aiming an AK-style rifle through a scope as Trump was playing at one of his Florida golf courses in West Palm Beach.
Here are five things you need to know about what happened to the Republican presidential candidate on Sunday.
Who is the suspect?
Law enforcement officials said the man who pointed the rifle and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh. Officials identified the suspect to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Records show Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving in 2018 to Kaaawa, Hawaii, where he and his son operated a shed-building company, according to an archived version of the company’s website.
Routh frequently posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a website seeking to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv and join the fight against the Russian invasion. In June 2020, he made an X-rated post targeting then-President Trump to say he would win reelection if he issued an executive order for the Justice Department to prosecute police misconduct. That year, he also posted in support of the Democratic presidential campaign of then-U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has since left the party and endorsed Trump.
In recent years, however, his posts suggest he has become disenchanted with Trump and has expressed support for the president. Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
In July, following the attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania, Routh urged Biden and Harris to visit those injured in the shooting in the hospital and attend the funeral of a former fire chief killed at the rally.
Voter records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, and most recently voted in person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2024. Federal campaign finance records show Routh made 19 small political donations totaling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates.
Records show that while living in Greensboro, North Carolina, Routh had multiple run-ins with law enforcement. He was convicted in 2002 of possession of a weapon of mass destruction, according to online records from the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.
Records don’t provide details about the case. But a 2002 News & Record article says a man with the same name was arrested after a three-hour standoff with police. The article says he was detained during a traffic stop, put his hand on a gun and barricaded himself inside a roofing company. He was the owner of the roofing company, according to state incorporation documents.
How did this happen?
Local authorities said the gunman was about 400 to 500 yards from Trump and hiding in bushes as the former president played a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said that when people go into the bushes surrounding the golf course, “you can hardly see them.” Bradshaw said the entire golf course would have been surrounded by law enforcement if Trump were the sitting president, but since he is not, “security is limited to areas that the Secret Service deems possible.” Trump’s protective detail has been larger than some of his peers because of his high visibility and his campaign to run for the White House again. His security was beefed up days before the July assassination attempt in Pennsylvania because of a threat to Trump’s life from Iran, U.S. officials said.
What has Trump said since the attempt?
In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were shots fired near me, but before the rumors start to get out of hand, I want you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND OK!” His running mate, JD Vance, and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they spoke to Trump after the incident and both said he was “in good spirits.” Trump also reached out to several Fox News hosts.
Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president, said on air that he spoke to Trump and his golfing partner, Steve Witkoff, after the game. They told Hannity they were on the fifth hole when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop.” Within seconds, he said Witkoff recounted that Secret Service agents “pounced on” Trump and “covered him” to protect him.
Moments later, Witkoff said, a “fast car” with steel reinforcements and other protection was able to take Trump away.
Hannity said Trump’s reaction after this happened — and when it became clear that everyone, including Witkoff, was safe — was to joke that he was sad he couldn’t finish the hole since “I was tied and had a birdie putt.” What is Vice President Kamala Harris saying? Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent in the presidential election, posted on X that she had been briefed on the reports of gunfire.
“I’m glad he’s safe. Violence has no place in America,” the president said at the White House. Joe Biden and Harris would be kept abreast of the investigation. The White House added that it was “relieved” to hear that Trump was safe.
What’s next?
Trump has not announced any changes to his schedule and is scheduled to speak live on X on Monday night from his Mar-a-Lago resort to launch his sons’ cryptocurrency platform.
Meanwhile, leaders of a bipartisan congressional task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump said they have requested a briefing with the Secret Service.
“We are grateful that the former president was not injured, but we remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all its forms,” Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Mike Kelly and Colorado Democrat Rep. Jason Crow said in a statement. They said the task force will share updates.
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat who sits on the task force, said he will “seek answers about what happened today and then.”
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