by John Solomon
Secret Service agents foiled the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in two months, but hard questions remain about how a would-be assassin armed with an AK-47 came to within 500 yards of the golfing former president and why America continues to rage against Trump.
Sunday’s incident at Trump’s golf course near Mar-A-Lago prompted fresh calls for civility and condemnation of political violence, with authorities announcing they had arrested a 58-year-old man who reportedly had a keen interest in the war in Ukraine and an extensive criminal record.
The episode also sparked fresh calls for investigations into the Secret Service’s ability to protect candidates ranging from Congress to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“People deserve the truth about this potential assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current Republican nominee,” DeSantis said.
Congress is already investigating solemn Secret Service failures that led to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green said Sunday evening that the fresh incident in Florida would also need to be investigated.
“Thanks to the quick action of Secret Service agents on the scene, President Trump was unharmed today. However, new questions arise and we must and will receive answers,” Green, R-Tenn., wrote on X.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking Republican in the House, was more direct.
“We have to ask ourselves, how is it possible that an assassin is so close to President Trump again? There are still no answers to the horrific attempted attack in Pennsylvania and we expect a clear explanation for what happened in Florida today,” she wrote on X.
Authorities said a Secret Service agent thwarted the assassination attempt as he was checking a nearby golf course where Trump planned to play around 2 p.m. Sunday, and also spotted the barrel of a gun sticking out of some bushes about 400 to 500 yards away from the former president.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the man was hiding in bushes outside Trump International Golf Club when the agent took action.
“He saw a rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately started attacking the individual,” Bradshaw said at a news conference.
The man fled in a car but was quickly apprehended by local law enforcement without incident in nearby Martin County. An AK-47 was found near the brush where the initial encounter occurred, authorities said.
The FBI and Secret Service said they were investigating the incident as an assassination attempt on Trump.
Authorities had not officially identified the suspect as of delayed Sunday evening, but multiple news outlets reported that law enforcement sources had identified the man as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.
Routh reportedly lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii in 2018. He ran a shed-building business with his son there. The Associated Press reported that.
Routh posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and set up a website where he tried to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to the country to join the fight against the Russian invasion.
The New York Times reported that Its reporters interviewed Routh last year during a story about Americans seeking to join Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Routh reportedly told the newspaper that he was trying to recruit former Afghan soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
“We could probably buy passports through Pakistan because it’s a terribly corrupt country,” he was quoted as saying by the Times last year.
NBC News reported Rouse has faced about 100 criminal charges in North Carolina over the years, including possession of a weapon of mass destruction and a machine gun.
Routh also posted in June 2020 on the social media platform X suggesting that then-President Trump could win re-election by issuing an executive order directing the Justice Department to prosecute police abuse, as well as another order supporting the Democratic presidential campaign of then-U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
But in recent years, his posts have become less pro-Trump and more supportive of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the press agency reported.
Voter registration records show he registered as an independent voter in North Carolina in 2012 and last voted in person during that state’s Democratic primary in March 2024.
Routh also made 19 diminutive political donations totaling $140 since 2019, using his Hawaii address, to ActBlue, a political action committee supporting Democratic candidates, according to federal campaign finance records. Reviewed by Associated Press.
Trump assured his supporters that everything was fine and thanked the Secret Service agents for their quick response. At the same time, he made it clear that he would not withdraw from the campaign, even after a second attempt on his life.
“My determination is even stronger after another attempt on my life!” he wrote in an email to supporters Sunday evening. “I will never slow down. I will never give up. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!”
Across the country, leaders from both sides of the political spectrum have called for an end to hostility and political violence.
“I am pleased that the former president is safe and sound. There is an active investigation into this incident as law enforcement gathers more details about what happened.” President Joe Biden said in a statement“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or violence of any kind in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to provide the Secret Service with all resources, capabilities and protections necessary to keep the former president protected.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer credited the agents’ quick response with saving Trump’s life and echoed Biden’s call for more civility.
“Incredibly grateful to the brave Secret Service agents and local law enforcement officers in Florida who responded quickly today to protect President Trump,” Comer wrote on X. “As details emerge about this second attempted coup, Republicans and Democrats must stand together, united against extremism and political violence of all kinds. There is no place for this type of action in our great country.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is expected to become the state’s fresh governor, has called on the media to do more to lower the temperature of political rhetoric in America.
“Our former president, and likely next president, Donald Trump, has survived two assassination attempts. All the vile and inciting rhetoric against him, and anyone else for that matter, must stop,” Morrissey wrote.
“The media has a responsibility to point fingers at politicians and advocates who fan the flames of violence. As the next governor of West Virginia, I will be a staunch defender of free speech, but I will never be afraid to point fingers at haters who seek to use violence to achieve their goals,” he added.
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John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author, and digital media entrepreneur who serves as CEO and editor-in-chief of Just the News. Before founding Just the News, Solomon held key reporting and executive positions at some of America’s most critical journalistic institutions, including The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, and The Hill.
Photo “Trump Plays Golf with Shinzo Abe, 2019” by White House.
