A man was arrested Sunday after attempting to assassinate former President Trump while he was playing golf at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, authorities said. Trump was unharmed in the second assassination attempt in two months.
The FBI described the incident as “an apparent attempted murder.”
The suspect was arrested and identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, police sources told The Times. A motive has not yet been determined.
He will initially be charged with state charges, although federal charges are almost certain to follow, authorities said.
The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. EDT Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. A Secret Service agent who was surveying the area one or two holes ahead of Trump saw the muzzle of an AK-47-style weapon pointed outward from the tree line on the perimeter of the course, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said during a news conference. The gun had a scope on it, and the former president was about 300 to 500 yards away.
“With a rifle and a scope like that, it’s not a very long distance,” Bradshaw said, praising the officer’s work. “The golf course is surrounded by bushes. When someone gets into the bushes, you can barely see them.”
Rafael Barros, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Miami, said the agents opened fire and it was unclear whether the man with the gun was able to get off a shot before fleeing. The golf course was closed and the president was quickly taken to a secure location before eventually being flown to his home in Palm Beach after police determined there was no ongoing threat.
A witness saw a man run out of the bushes and get into a black Nissan, Bradshaw said. The witness took a photo of the vehicle and license plate, which police were able to use to quickly track him down in Martin County, north of Palm Beach County.
The man was stopped on northbound Interstate 95, Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder said at an earlier briefing. The northbound highway was closed and the vehicle the suspect was driving was cleared by a bomb-sniffing dog before deputies stopped him.
Snyder described the suspect as being emotionless and having a “flat demeanor” and said he “was not armed when we pulled him out of the car.”
The witness was flown to the scene and confirmed that the man in custody was the man he had seen running out of the bushes, Bradshaw said. Meanwhile, law enforcement at the golf course recovered an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tiles inside and a GoPro camera that could be used to record or broadcast an attack.
The former president told his supporters that they did not do him any harm.
“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!” Trump wrote in an email sent Sunday afternoon. “Nothing will stop me. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP! I will always love you for standing with me. Unity. Peace. Let’s Make America Great Again. God Bless.”
Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said he spoke to the former president before the news became public.
“I'm glad President Trump is safe,” Vance wrote on social media platform X. “… he was, surprisingly, in good spirits. There's still a lot we don't know, but I'll be holding my kids very tight tonight and saying a prayer of gratitude.”
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival in the November presidential race, have been briefed on the incident.
“I am deeply concerned by the potential assassination attempt on former President Trump today. As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence,” Harris said in a statement. “We must all do our part to ensure this incident does not lead to further violence. I am grateful that former President Trump is safe.”
Biden said he has directed his administration officials to ensure the Secret Service has the resources and capacity to protect Trump.
“I am relieved that the former president is unharmed,” the president said in a statement. “As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or any kind of violence in our country.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who challenged Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, said the state would conduct its own 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 Republican nominee,” DeSantis wrote in X.
The incident occurred roughly two months after a bullet grazed Trump’s ear in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, an incident that led to investigations into failures in the former president’s security detail. His staff was augmented after he was injured and also, as CNN reported in July, after national security officials learned of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.
In addition to traveling with increased Secret Service protection, Trump now speaks at public events from behind bulletproof glass. On Friday, when he held a news conference at his golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, Secret Service agents were stationed on the green with binoculars and long guns. But there were still tee times available at the oceanfront course.
Police on scene before former President Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club on Friday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Trump already has more protection than other former presidents such as Barack Obama and George W. Bush, but his particularity is that he appears in public much more frequently than other former presidents, since he is again aspiring to the White House and his agenda is usually public.
The last president to be assassinated by a sniper was John F. Kennedy in 1963, prompting a sweeping overhaul of the protection of the country's leaders. Further investigations into the second assassination attempt on the former president are sure to follow.
“The threat level is high,” Barros said. “We live in dangerous times.”
Even though the Secret Service prevented a tragedy on Sunday, questions are already being raised about how a person with a gun could get so close to Trump.
Bradshaw noted that when a sitting president visits a golf course, the perimeter of the area is closely guarded. In Trump's case, a bubble of Secret Service agents provides protection in front of and behind him on the golf course. He said he expects the level of security to be heightened the next time Trump plays the course, which is less than five miles from his Mar-a-Lago Club residence in Palm Beach.
It's unclear how the suspect knew Trump would be golfing at the course on Sunday, but he is a well-known golfer and his motorcade would be an obvious sign to anyone trying to discern the former president's movements.
Top Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles sent emails to their staff members urging them to be vigilant.
“Today, for the second time in two months, an evil monster attempted to take President Trump’s life. Thankfully, no one was injured on the golf course,” they wrote. “President Trump and all those accompanying him are safe thanks to the great work of the United States Secret Service.”
They thanked the staff for their strength and dedication and urged them to be observant, before predicting victory in November.
“As we enter the final 50 days of President Trump’s campaign, we must remember that we can only save America from those who seek to destroy it by working together as one team,” they wrote. “President Trump and Senator Vance expect the best from us, and we must deliver every day.”
There was confusion in the immediate aftermath of Sunday's incident. Initial reports indicated that two people were shooting at each other and that the shooting was not related to the president. But that quickly changed when details emerged that a man was seen with an assault weapon at the edge of the golf course and that the Secret Service opened fire.
Sean Hannity said on Fox News that he had been invited to play golf with Trump and real estate developer Steven Witkoff, a major Trump donor, on Sunday, but the Fox host declined, saying he was working. Trump was on the fifth hole and about to putt when the incident occurred, according to Hannity.
Hannity said he spoke to Trump's son, Eric, after the incident.
“One thing Eric Trump said to me was — and he choked up as he said it to me — ‘My father is running out of lives here. How many more rifles are going to be within killing distance of my father? ’ And he said it with great passion and love,” Hannity said.
Times staff writers James Rainey, Laura J. Nelson and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
