The FBI said former President Donald Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted assassination ” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life.
U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club in Florida while he was golfing. No injuries were reported. Officials say the person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local law enforcement.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was charged Monday with federal gun crimes. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.
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Steve Witkoff, Trump’s golf partner on Sunday, says the former president’s reaction to the apparent assassination attempt was “courageous and stoic.”
The real estate investor said Monday in a post on the social platform X that Trump, his “very close friend,” was “concerned about his friends first before thinking of himself,” something Witkoff said exemplified “the truest example of leadership.”
Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president’s, said on air Sunday that he had spoken with Trump and Witkoff, who told him that Secret Service agents “pounced on” Trump and “covered him” to protect him.
Body camera footage posted on Facebook Monday shows the arrest of the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt.
The video posted by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office shows Ryan Routh walking backward with his hands over his head on the side of a road before being handcuffed and led away by law enforcement.
Local law enforcement was still blocking the palm tree-lined road south of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, as a group of FBI agents were searching Monday near the hedge surrounding the property.
Other investigators were also in the area walking back and forth from their vehicles to the hedge.
Journalists had set up cameras near a gas station facing the property as temperatures were nearing 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Authorities are planning to give an update on their investigation.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office says it is hosting officials with the Secret Service and FBI for an update at 4 p.m. ET Monday.
Representatives from both federal agencies, along with Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, are expected to meet with members of the media at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in West Palm Beach.
The court documents also detail the charges and possible penalties Routh could face if convicted.
The charge of possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction carries a possible 15-year sentence, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
A second charge of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number carries a possible five-year prison sentence, a $250,000 fine and also three years supervised release.
According to court documents, Routh was stopped by officers about 45 minutes after he fled the golf course.
Officials said that Routh answered in the affirmative when officers asked him if he knew why he was being stopped. The vehicle was stopped at about 2:14 p.m. on northbound Interstate 95 in Martin County, which neighbors Palm Beach County.
Federal prosecutors’ complaint against Routh has been filed in court.
According to the complaint, cell phone records show that Routh was in the area of the golf course tree line for about 12 hours, from approximately 1:59 a.m. until 1:31 p.m. on Sunday.
The license plate on the Nissan SUV in which Routh was stopped was registered to a 2012 Ford truck that has been reported stolen, according to authorities.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state will be conducting its own investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life Sunday.
“I understand that the feds are involved but we do believe that there were multiple violations of state law. We also believe that there’s a need to make sure that the truth about all this comes out in a way, you know, that’s credible,” he said during a news conference Monday morning. “I mean I look at the federal government, with all due respect to them, those same agencies that are prosecuting Trump in that jurisdiction are now going to be investigating this?”
DeSantis added that while the federal government has its “prerogative,” “we have our prerogative.”
The governor said he had not yet spoken to Trump.
Ryan Wesley Routh has had his first appearance in federal court.
During an eight-minute hearing, prosecutors levied two charges against him: possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Officials said Routh could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the first charge, and a possible five-year sentence on the second charge.
A bond hearing has been schedule for Sept. 23, and a probable cause hearing or arraignment has been set for Sept. 30, depending on whether the government secures an indictment on the charges.
During the hearing, Routh gave routine information to court officials as to his work status and income. Speaking in a soft voice, he said that he was working and making around $3,000 a month, but has zero savings.
Routh said that he has no real estate or assets, aside from two trucks worth about $1,000, both located in Hawaii.
Routh also said that he has a 25-year-old son, whom he sometimes supports.
Trump is blaming his political rivals’ rhetoric for Sunday’s apparent attempt on his life.
Trump said Monday in an interview with Fox News Digital that the accused gunman “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it.”
The former president went on to say, “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
The tone was different than the one Trump adopted immediately after the Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July, when he called for unity and a cooling of the campaign’s tenor, including during his speech at the Republican National Convention.
“They use highly inflammatory language,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “I can use it too — far better than they can — but I don’t.”
Routh, the man accused of trying to shoot at Trump on Sunday, had expressed support for Trump online in as recently as 2020, but in recent years, his posts suggest he soured on him, expressing support for Biden and Harris.
The White House responded to Elon Musk’s post on X about presidential assassinations, which stirred outrage on social media.
“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” said spokesperson Andrew Bates in a statement on Monday. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.”
Musk deleted his comment on Sunday, which he posted in the wake of a second alleged attempt on Donald Trump’s life. He had written “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
“Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on X,” Musk wrote later.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will be demanding more Secret Service protection for Trump, saying he needs more attention than any other protectee.
“He’s the most attacked. He’s the most threatened, even probably more than when he was in the Oval Office,” Johnson, R-La., said on “Fox & Friends.” “We are demanding in the House that he have every asset available.”
The Republican speaker was on his way to visit Trump on Sunday when the former president was targeted while golfing. The suspect is now in custody.
Johnson and his wife, Kelly, visited with Trump afterward for about three hours, and the speaker said he was in “good spirits.”
The House’s bipartisan task force on the July assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania is monitoring the situation and has requested a briefing. Johnson said the panel was scheduled to hold a hearing later this month as it investigates the political violence.
“There’s going to be reports and recommendations coming forward, and Congress will act swiftly,” Johnson said. “We need accountability.”
Johnson said he has “no faith” in Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The House impeached Mayorkas earlier this year over the department’s handling of immigration, but the Senate declined to consider the charges in a trial.
Ryan Wesley Routh briefly entered a Florida courtroom Monday morning for his initial appearance, wearing a dark blue jail jumpsuit and his arms and legs shackled. He sat quietly for about five minutes with no visible signs of nervousness before marshals led him back out to await his hearing.
The Associated Press filmed Ryan Wesley Routh in April 2022 at a demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A placard he was holding said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” He wore a blue vest with the American flag on the back, along with a scarf and T-shirt in the colors of his national flag, while participating in a small rally.
Other participants held posters drawing attention to Mariupol, which was under siege at the time and is now occupied by Russia. That same day, Routh also paid tribute to foreign citizens killed during the war near a makeshift memorial sign reading “Foreigners killed by Putin.”
Ryan Wesley Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army nor collaborated with the military in any capacity, according to Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, Routh has periodically contacted the international legion with what Shahuri described as “nonsensical ideas.” His plans and ideas can best be described as delusional.”
Shahuri, speaking to The Associated Press, firmly denied any connection to Routh. The International Legion of Ukraine was created shortly after the outbreak of the war by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It consists of foreign citizens “wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupants and fight for global security,” according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.
Zelenskyy released a statement on X regarding the apparent assassination attempt: “I am glad to hear that Donald Trump 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.”
Trump campaign leaders are crediting the Secret Service with keeping the former president safe following an apparent assassination attempt in Florida.
In an email sent to staff Sunday evening, senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote, “Today, for the second time in two months, an evil monster attempted to take the life of President Trump.”
“Thankfully, no one was injured at the Golf Course. President Trump and everyone accompanying him are safe thanks to the great work of the United States Secret Service,” they wrote.
They added that campaign staffers’ safety is “always our top priority” and asked those receiving the email to “remain vigilant” and “observant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness."
The leaders of a bipartisan task force in Congress that has been investigating the assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July said it is monitoring the Florida situation and has requested a briefing by the Secret Service.
“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. “The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”
It was not immediately clear whether the incident would affect Trump's campaign schedule.
On Monday night, he was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform. Trump planned a town hall Tuesday in Flint, Michigan, with his former press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, followed by a rally Wednesday on New York’s Long Island.
Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not advised about any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf, before having lunch at the club, one of three he owns in the state.
The man who authorities say pointed a rifle with a scope into former President Donald Trump’s golf club and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
The officials identified the suspect to the AP but spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Secret Service agents shot at the suspect, who was taken into custody after fleeing the scene of what the FBI is calling an apparent attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee. Authorities are working to determine a motive.
— By Associated Press reporters Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak
A Palm Beach County Sheriff's officer works at a checkpoint near the bridge that leads to the Mar-a-Lago estate after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
In this image taken from police body camera video and released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement officers arrest Ryan Routh, the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
In this imaged released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement officers arrest Ryan Routh, the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video and released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement officers prepare to arrest Ryan Routh, the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video and released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement officers prepare to arrest Ryan Routh, the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Officers with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office work outside of Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
A vehicle with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office is parked outside of Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Law enforcement officials work outside of Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
An FBI officer works outside of Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
This image provided by the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office shows a Feb. 10, 2010 booking photo of Ryan Wesley Routh. (Guilford County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
An FBI officer works outside of Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
An FBI officer works outside of Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Trump International Golf Club is shown after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Trump International Golf Club is shown, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Trump International Golf Club is shown, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Police officers direct traffic near Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he boards a plane at Harry Reid International Airport after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Security agents talk at the entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, March 31, 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
A police officer directs traffic near Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Sheriff vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)
This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
FILE - The motorcade for President Donald Trump arrives at Trump International Golf Club, Feb. 15, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Photos that show an AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club taken after an apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are displayed during a news conference at the Palm Beach County Main Library, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Harry Reid International Airport to board a plane after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ryan Wesley Routh pays tribute to foreign citizens killed during Russia-Ukraine war in a central square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ryan Wesley Routh takes part in a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
