Former US president and Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump appears to have been targeted by another assassination attempt while playing at his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday. Here’s what we know so far.
What happened?
Former president Donald Trump is safe following what the FBI says "appears to be an attempted assassination” while playing golf, just nine weeks after another attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Local authorities said the US Secret Service agents protecting Trump fired at a man pointing an AK-style rifle with a scope as Trump was playing on one of his Florida golf courses in West Palm Beach.
The Secret Service said its agents were accompanying Trump on the golf course, when one who was securing holes ahead of Trump spotted a gun barrel in some bushes near the property line.
Multiple agents engaged the gunman and fired at least four rounds at him. The gunman then dropped his rifle, two backpacks, a Go Pro camera and other items and fled in a black Nissan car.
Palm Beach County sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a witness managed to take a photo of the suspected gunman's car and licenc plate and gave it to authorities.
Shortly after, sheriff's deputies in neighbouring Martin County stopped the suspect on Interstate 95 and took him into custody.
Who is the suspect?
Law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that the man who pointed the rifle and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh. The officials identified the suspect on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Reuters found profiles on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a Ryan Routh, and 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 April 21, 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 Putins Black sea mansion bunker to end him. Can you give me a price please."
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The New York Times reported it had interviewed Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans who were volunteering to help the Ukraine war effort. Routh told the 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.
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 company building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.
Voter records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2024. Federal campaign finance records show Routh made 19 small political donations totalling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates.
The suspected gunman's son, Adam, reached by Reuters at the hardware store where he works in Hawaii, 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.
Later, the reporter called back to the store and a colleague said Adam had gone home because of an emergency.
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."
How close did he get?
Local authorities said the gunman was about 400 yards to 500 yards away from Trump and hiding in shrubbery while the former president was playing a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Bradshaw, the Palm Beach County sheriff, said that when people get into the shrubbery around the course, “they’re pretty much out of sight”. Bradshaw said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Trump were the sitting president, but because he’s not, “security is limited to the areas the Secret Service deems possible”.
Trump’s protective detail has been higher than some of his peers because of his high visibility and his campaign to seek the White House again. His security was bolstered days before the July assassination attempt in Pennsylvania because of a threat on Trump’s life from Iran, US officials said.
In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential election, posted on X that she had been briefed on the reports of gunshots fired.
“I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”
In comments to Fox News Digital on Monday, Trump blamed Biden and Harris after the apparent assassination attempt, citing their “rhetoric” and use of “highly inflammatory language”.
The former president referred to comments that he poses a "threat to democracy".
“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,” he said.
Trump has not announced any changes to his schedule and is set to speak live on X on Monday night from his Mar-a-Lago resort to launch his sons’ crypto platform.
What has the suspect been charged with?
The suspect appeared in federal court in Florida on Monday and was charged with two gun-related crimes: possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
More charges appear likely, but the initial counts will allow authorities to keep him in custody as the investigation continues.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and Reuters)
