Trial begins for man accused of attempted assassination of Donald Trump
By Al Jazeera, September 12, 2025The criminal trial for a man suspected of trying to assassinate United States President Donald Trump last year has started, coming at a time of heightened alarm over political violence in the US.
The trial began with opening statements on Thursday as the defendant, 59-year-old Ryan Routh, took the unusual step of representing himself.
Routh faces five charges, including trying to assassinate a presidential candidate, and faces the possibility of life in prison if found guilty. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The proceedings came one day after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a far-right media figure and close Trump ally whose killing has raised alarm over the increasing frequency of political violence in the US.
Routh said in July that he would represent himself in court, telling US District Court Judge Eileen Cannon that he did not want a “random stranger” speaking on his behalf. Two public defenders originally assigned to his case are now serving on standby to assist him with logistical tasks.
Cannon cut Routh off on Thursday as he gave a series of bizarre remarks on topics that did not seem relevant to the case, such as the origin of the human species, the settling of the US frontier and international conflicts. The jury was sent out of the room after Routh said the case meant “absolutely nothing”.
Prosecutors accuse Routh of hiding with a rifle next to a golf course in an attempt to kill Trump on September 15, 2024, at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Court documents stated that the plot was foiled when a Secret Service agent noticed a gun sticking out from a fence and opened fire. Routh then fled the area before being stopped and apprehended by police on a Florida highway.
Trump assassination attempt : Who is suspect Ryan Routh?
- The suspect was identified by US media as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.
- According to a report by The Associated Press news agency, he spent most of his life in North Carolina before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018. In Hawaii, he and his son ran a company specialising in building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.
- In 2023, Routh was interviewed by The New York Times for an article about Americans volunteering to support the war effort in Ukraine.
- During the interview, he revealed that he travelled to Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion to recruit soldiers for the war “from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban”.
- He also mentioned visiting Washington, DC to meet politicians to bolster support for Ukraine.
- “We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan since it’s such a corrupt country,” he told the NYT.
- In a post on X in June 2020, Routh indicated he had voted for Trump in 2016, but had since become disillusioned with the billionaire politician. In many recent posts, he has expressed support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
- But his political positions appear to have stayed complex. In July, following the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, the AP reported that Routh urged Biden and Harris, on X, to visit those wounded in the shooting at the hospital and attend the funeral of a firefighter killed at the rally. There is no evidence that either Biden or Harris was aware of Routh’s message to them.
- According to a CNN report, his son Oran Routh said he hopes everything has “just been blown out of proportion” and it is not like his father “to do anything crazy, much less violent”. He called his father “a loving and caring father, and honest hardworking man”.