What to Know About the Second Apparent Assassination Attempt on Trump 

Just two months after an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in July during a rally in Pennsylvania, another apparent attempt on the Republican presidential nominee’s life was foiled by authorities on Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump was unharmed, and a suspect who fled the scene was arrested and charged Monday with two gun-related crimes. Federal authorities have identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old living in Hawaii who once supported Trump and was particularly passionate about defending Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Politicians across the spectrum have condemned the attack, and law enforcement officials are investigating.

Here’s what to know.

Hiding in the bushes: what happened

While Trump was golfing on Sunday around 1:30 p.m., a Secret Service agent working on Trump’s protective detail was positioned one hole ahead of the former President. The agent noticed a man holding a rifle an estimated 400 yards away poking out of a tree line near the golf course, officials said. (For reference, the shooter in July was approx. 400 feet—about one-third of the distance—away from Trump.)

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said on Sunday that as Secret Service personnel opened fire at the gunman hiding in the bushes, the gunman dropped his weapon and other items—a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a black plastic bag containing food—and fled in a vehicle. The serial number on the rifle was obliterated.

The suspect, later identified by authorities as Routh, did not fire any shots at Secret Service agents during the engagement, Bradshaw said Monday morning. According to the criminal complaint released on Monday, cell phone location data obtained by the FBI indicates that Routh “was located in the vicinity of the area of the tree line” at Trump’s golf course just before 2:00 a.m. Sunday until about 1:30 p.m.

A witness reported seeing the suspect flee from the bushes and photographed the vehicle he jumped into. Authorities were able to pull that vehicle over on a highway, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post around 3:30 p.m. “We did not give him an opportunity to put up a fight, we had him contained, forced off the road, taken out at gunpoint,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told the media of the arrest during the later press briefing, adding that the suspect was unarmed, “relatively calm,” and “not displaying a lot of emotions” when he was stopped.

The witness was brought in to confirm the suspect was the same person seen fleeing earlier.

Read More: What We Know About the Suspect Charged in Trump’s Second Apparent Assassination Attempt

Routh once supported Trump

The suspected gunman taken into police custody was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old most recently living in Hawaii, who said on social media that he voted for Trump in 2016. Past interviews and social media posts paint him as a Trump supporter-turned-critic who was fixated on global politics and particularly upset with Trump’s decision to withdraw from the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal.

Routh wrote in a June 2020 post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, which has since been suspended: “@realDonaldTrump While you were my choice in 2106 [sic], I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving. I will be glad when you gone.”

Routh had previously thought about the idea of a Trump assassination in what appears to be a self-published e-book in 2023. In a section about Iran, Routh apologized to the Middle East nation for having previously voted for Trump, whom Routh described as a “retarded child” and said “ended up being brainless” for dismantling the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal. “I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake,” Routh wrote. “You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment.”

“No one here in the U.S. seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work,” he added, “or even unnatural selection.”

According to public voter records at the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Routh was registered as an unaffiliated voter without a party in Guilford County in 2012. In March 2024, he voted in the state’s Democratic primary. Federal Election Commission filings show that Routh donated more than $140 to Act Blue, the Democratic fundraising platform, between September 2019 and March 2020.

However, Routh’s Politics do not appear consistently aligned with one party or the other. In an X post on Jan. 8, 2024, Routh called on then-Republican primary candidate Nikki Haley to team up with other Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to “create a winning ticket now that we all can get behind.” Other previous posts showed support for former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat turned Trump supporter.

When Trump was shot during a previous assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July, Routh posted on X tagging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urging them to visit the rally-goer victims: “You and Biden should visit the injured people in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the murdered fireman. Trump will never do anything for them.”

Federal agents are yet to lay out a motive. Public records show Routh has a history of criminal convictions, some of which would have barred him from owning a gun.

‘I will NEVER SURRENDER!’: Trump’s response

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! Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”

After the incident, Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort about 4.5 miles away from the golf course, the Associated Press reported.

Despite another apparent attempt on his life, Trump was in “good spirits” on Sunday evening, Trump’s running mate Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) both posted on social media, saying that they’d each spoken with the former President. 

CBS reported, citing Trump’s friends, family, and advisors, that he was joking that he wished he could have finished his round of golf. 

Fox News host Sean Hannity said he spoke with Trump’s golf partner on Sunday, real estate investor Steve Witkoff, who recalled that Trump went “out of his way” to express gratitude to the Secret Service agents at the scene. 

Meanwhile, a Trump campaign internal email to staffers warned them to “remain vigilant,” the AP reported. “This is not a matter that we take lightly. Your safety is always our top priority,” said the email. “As we enter the last 50 days of President Trump’s campaign, we must remember that we will only be able [to] save America from those who seek to destroy it by working together as one team.”

In a Truth Social post later Sunday night, Trump said: “I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes - It was certainly an interesting day! Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE. THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”

“No leader in American History has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient,” House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) posted on X. “He is unstoppable.”

Hannity, who described Sunday’s incident as “a security failure again,” said on-air that he spoke to Trump’s son Eric, who had told him: “How many more lives does my father have here? He can only dodge so many bullets.”

‘People deserve the truth’: ongoing investigations

Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi posted on X on Sunday afternoon that the agency was “investigating a protective incident involving former President Donald Trump.” 

Trump had no public events scheduled for Sunday, and his golf game was only added to his schedule at the last minute, CNN reported, raising questions about how the shooter may have prepared for the attack. CNN also reported, citing a source in law enforcement, that the FBI has launched a “global” investigation after the arrested suspect’s online activity involved platforms headquartered outside the U.S., though no co-conspirators have been identified.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X that the state would conduct a separate investigation into the incident. “The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee,” said DeSantis, Trump’s former primary rival who has since endorsed him.

Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.) of the congressional task force on the earlier assassination attempt on Trump posted a joint statement saying that they have “requested a briefing with the U.S. Secret Service about what happened and how security responded.” They said they are grateful Trump was unharmed “but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms” and “will share updates as we learn more.”

In a statement, Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) urged Biden to “issue President Trump the same security levels afforded to a sitting president to ensure his safety.” Bradshaw, the Palm Beach County sheriff, had said during the Sunday press briefing that a reason the entire perimeter of the golf course had not been secured was because Trump had not been accorded the same level of protection as a sitting President and that “security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”

‘Violence has no place’: Democrats, world leaders, and celebrities react

President Joe Biden commended the U.S. Secret Service and law enforcement in a White House statement, saying he was relieved that Trump is safe and reiterated that “there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country.” He added: “I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”

On Monday morning, Biden told reporters that the Secret Service “needs more help” and that “Congress should respond to their needs if they in fact need more service people.”

"They're deciding whether they need more personnel or not,” he added.

Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minn. Gov. Tim Walz each posted on X that they were “glad” Trump is safe and that “violence has no place” in the U.S. “It’s not who we are as a nation,” Walz said.

“Political violence has no place in a civilized society,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. “The alleged perpetrator,” he added, “should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), a member of the congressional task force on the July assassination attempt on Trump, told CNN that he was “very concerned” about the Secret Service’s ability to keep the former President safe in outdoor environments” and that Americans should also be concerned about how “a second individual, clearly disturbed, was able to get this close to the former President with a weapon.” He added: “This is getting embarrassing for the agency, and people in Congress are bewildered why we’re in this situation now for a second time.”

Outside the U.S., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X that while he was “relieved” that the assassination attempt on Trump had failed, “we should not rely on luck.” He added: “We send our best wishes to Donald and Melania along with our hopes that all measures will be taken to ensure that such deadly attacks on a candidate for the US presidency will be foiled in advance.”

Mexican President-elect Claudia SheiNBAum and outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador both issued statements on social media condemning the attack against Trump. “Peace must always guide democratic processes,” said SheiNBAum.

In a since-deleted post on X, Elon Musk—who endorsed Trump shortly after the former President survived the earlier attempt on his life in July—wrote: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” (A man was arrested in Florida in July for threatening to kill Biden, and a man was arrested in Virginia in August for threatening to kill Harris.) The tech billionaire has continued to reply to posts on X expressing support for Trump and blaming Democrats’ rhetoric for the violence targeting him.

Comedian Jon Stewart, while backstage at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, said that one thing he and his Daily Show colleagues try to do is “not feel as though we are under the spotlight of making some profound statement about the moment. I don’t know that we can.” Though he did offer his wry advice: “I think the one rule maybe we could all benefit from in terms of engagement is ‘no shooting.’ No matter how mad you are, no matter who you don’t like, who you hate… I believe instituting a ‘no shooting’ policy would be the way to take things down a notch.”