Assassination attempt against Donald Trump: gunman arrested during a golf game in Florida.

A new assassination attempt against former US President Donald Trump was foiled on September 15, 2024, while he was at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The episode caused great alarm and media attention, as it was the second assassination attempt against Trump in just two months.

The attacker, Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old man from Hawaii, was spotted by law enforcement pointing a rifle at the former president. Around 13:30 p.m., Trump was playing golf between the fifth and sixth holes when a Secret Service agent noticed the barrel of a gun sticking out of the fence on the course. The agent immediately responded by opening fire at the suspect, who ran away, while other agents rushed to protect Trump, covering him and quickly driving him away in a golf cart. Meanwhile, snipers stationed at a distance were ready to intervene, helping to keep the president safe. Trump was then safely escorted to his Mar-a-Lago residence, with increased security.

The attacker, Ryan Wesley Routh

Ryan Wesley Routh has been identified as an individual with a lengthy criminal history, spanning more than two decades. Born in North Carolina, Routh attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University before moving to Hawaii in 2018. According to U.S. media reports, Routh had expressed a strong interest in the war in Ukraine, even posting on his social media profiles in which he attempted to recruit soldiers for the Ukrainian cause. However, his involvement with the Ukrainian forces never materialized. An officer with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion told CNN that Routh had contacted them multiple times, offering to recruit numerous foreign fighters, but his proposals were dismissed as “delusional ideas.” Oleksandr Shaguri, of the Department of Foreigners Coordination at the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, said Routh’s offers were “obviously unrealistic” and not worthy of a response.

Routh has a criminal record of crimes large and small. In 2002, at the age of 36, he was arrested in North Carolina for possession of a machine gun, a weapon that, in the post-11/XNUMX context, was classified as a “weapon of mass destruction.” Despite this criminal history and his suspicious social media activity, the specific motive for his attempted assassination of Trump remains unclear.

After the shooting, a witness near the golf course saw the suspect running from the bushes and took photos of his car, a black Nissan, along with the license plate. These details proved crucial to law enforcement, who tracked down and arrested Routh a few hours later. The suspect was unarmed and appeared calm when he was arrested, showing no signs of agitation or emotion. The witness identified him, and Routh is currently in police custody. Authorities found a backpack, a GoPro camera, and an AK-47-style rifle with a scope hidden in the bushes, confirming that the suspect could have posed a serious threat despite Trump being 270 to 400 yards away at the time of the attack. The investigation is still in its early stages, but the FBI has publicly stated that it is treating the incident as an attempted assassination of the former president.

The news of the failed attack quickly attracted the attention of the media and US political authorities. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were promptly informed of the incident and expressed relief for Trump's safety. "I'm glad he's OK. Violence has no place in America," Harris said in an interview. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, also issued a statement praising the former president's fortitude, saying: "I just spoke to President Trump. He is one of the strongest people I know. He is in good spirits, and he is more determined than ever to save this country."

Donald Trump

The episode represents the second assassination attempt against Trump in a short period of time. Two months earlier, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks had attempted to assassinate Trump during a political event in Butler, Pennsylvania. On that occasion, Crooks had opened fire on the stage where the former president was standing, wounding him in the ear and killing one member of the audience, while two others were injured. Crooks was then killed by a Secret Service sniper. This incident had raised criticism and controversy over the management of Trump's security, ultimately leading to the resignation of the director of the Secret Service. The current episode, although quickly and effectively foiled, once again brings the issue of the former president's security to the fore, particularly in view of the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled in just over fifty days. With early voting already underway in some states, the electoral campaign has become particularly tense, with increasingly harsh mutual attacks between Trump and his political opponent.

The incident has also sparked reactions internationally. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has always been in contact with Trump on political and military issues related to the war against Russia, has strongly condemned the attack and all forms of political violence. “I am happy that Trump is safe and sound,” Zelensky wrote on X (formerly Twitter), expressing his best wishes to the former president and his family. Zelensky then stressed that “the rule of law is fundamental and political violence has no place anywhere in the world.” From the Russian front, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, commented on the episode with a cryptic warning: “Playing with fire has its consequences,” without however going into detail about the meaning of his words.

The West Palm Beach incident, although it did not result in any casualties, has reignited the debate on the safety of political leaders in the United States and the importance of ensuring the protection of former presidents in an increasingly polarized and tense political climate.