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Trump Is Safe After Apparent Assassination Attempt in Florida
(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump is safe after his Secret Service detail opened fire at a man who was wielding an assault rifle at his West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course Sunday, in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation called an apparent assassination attempt.
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A suspect in custody was identified by federal officials as Ryan Routh, 58. He has eight arrests on his record, apparently for minor offenses, CNN reported. In 2002, Routh was convicted of possessing a machine gun, NBC reported, citing court records.
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The incident would mark the second attempt on the Republican presidential candidate’s life in two months, after a gunman wounded Trump in the ear during an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, days before he attended the Republican National Convention. The FBI said it’s “investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
Trump’s campaign and the US Secret Service said the former president was unharmed Sunday after a Secret Service agent engaged the man, who officials estimated was 300 to 500 yards away from Trump while he was golfing. The man fled and, based on a witness description of the suspect’s vehicle, he was subsequently stopped and taken into custody by police on Interstate 95, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters at a briefing.
“In the bushes where this guy was is an AK-47-style rifle with a scope,” two backpacks and a GoPro camera, Bradshaw said. “The Secret Service agent that was on the course did a fantastic job.”
The security arrangement is to have a Secret Service agent in position one hole in advance of Trump, Bradshaw said. “He was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engaged that individual, at which time that individual took off,” he said.
Trump’s security as a presumptive and then confirmed presidential nominee came into sharp focus after the Pennsylvania shooting, which prompted congressional criticism of the Secret Service and led to the resignation of the agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle.
The shooting shook the US presidential campaign — which shifted again eight days later when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run against Trump in the November election.
Trump, 78, was grazed in the right ear when the would-be assassin opened fire on him at the Butler rally while he was visiting swing-state Pennsylvania for his last rally before the Republican convention. While security agents hustled Trump off the stage, his face blood-streaked, he pumped his fist in the air in defiance. He later said he shouted “Fight, fight, fight” while being led off.
The bipartisan congressional task force established after the Pennsylvania shooting said it would also investigate the Florida incident. Both campaigns continued sending fundraising requests and did not announce plans to suspend political advertisements or candidate travel.
“MY RESOLVE IS STRONGER AFTER ANOTHER ATTEMPT ON MY LIFE!” Trump wrote later in the night in a text to supporters.
Pivot in Attention
The Florida episode is likely to quickly pivot national attention away from Tuesday’s debate performance and offered Trump an opportunity for a reset.
Some of Trump’s aides and allies were quick to respond. In a statement, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik said Americans “must unite behind him in November to protect our republic and bring peace back to the world.”
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican closely aligned with the former president, said in a post on X that he had spoken with him after the incident and found him in good spirits.
The White House said Biden and Harris were briefed “about the security incident” at Trump’s golf course and were relieved to know he’s safe. “Violence has no place in America,” Harris said in a post on her vice-presidential X account.
Biden said in a statement that he had directed his team to continue to “ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary” to ensure Trump’s safety.
Trump had returned to Florida over the weekend from a West Coast swing that included a rally in Las Vegas and a fundraiser. The golf course is across from Palm Beach International Airport and near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach.
(Updates with NBC report in second paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the spelling of county in fourth paragraph.)
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