The man charged in the second assassination attempt during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Ryan Wesley Routh, Fox News reports, had allegedly sought to acquire heavy weaponry from an “associate Routh believed to be a Ukrainian with access to military weapons.” In a newly surfaced [court document]https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/04/routh-4-7.pdf), prosecutors say that in August 2024, Routh used an encrypted messaging app, wanting his associate to provide an anti-tank grenade launcher and a US-made Stinger missile. He provided a photo of Trump’s plane and stated: “I will see what we can do... He is not good for Ukraine... I need the equipment so that Trump can’t get elected.”
Shortly afterwards, beginning in mid-August, Routh’s cell phone indicated that he began mapping the Mar-a-Lago area, stalking Trump’s whereabouts. Routh researched, as Fox summarized the document, “Trump’s campaign movements, patterns of life, the golf course, Trump’s airplane, firearms and ammunition, escape routes, local hospitals, police forensic techniques, and items he would need for the attempt.” Then on September 15, he staked out the 6th hole at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, lying in wait for 12 hours behind some bushes, armed with a semi-automatic rifle.
Who was his Ukrainian associate? Routh’s possible associates in Ukraine likely would have included those involved in his scheme to recruit former Afghan commandos and other mercenaries. Routh travelled to Kiev in 2022 to join the infamous International Legion (IL), but, as a 56-year-old with no military experience, was turned down. He adopted the task of recruiting others to the IL. Early on, he appeared in a video of a public rally for the Azov Brigade. One soldier in Ukraine reported that Routh slept at the barracks or bases of Ukrainian military units. Routh was in Ukraine for most of two years and claimed that he was active with the International Legion; though, after his arrest, they certainly downplayed any relationship to him. His 2023 book endorsed the assassinations of both Putin and Trump.
Yesterday Donald Trump, Jr., posted on X: “If you think it’s bad that Ukraine never said thank you for everything the United States has done for them, the fact that they seemingly did not tell us that this sociopath literally tried to buy arms from them to assassinate my father seems like a much bigger deal. Wonder why?!?” However, while Kiev may well have a level of complicity, there had been several warnings to the U.S. government itself about Routh. An initial check at any point would have shown that Routh had a rap sheet, which included an armed showdown he had with police while carrying an automatic weapon. Apparently there are those in Kiev and in the U.S. that either were incredibly sloppy or found it useful for such a rage ball to weaponize his fantasies.
