Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, previously appeared to encourage the killing of the former president, it has emerged.
In a book published in 2023 about the way in Ukraine, Routh claimed that readers were “free to assassinate Trump”.
“No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection,” he wrote.
Following the second attempted assassination of Trump in just 64 days, 58-year-old Routh is now in custody after a Secret Service agent from Trump’s protective detail saw him holding a rifle behind a chain-link fence at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
Authorities and media outlets have since been working to determine Routh’s motives for targeting the Republican nominee and former president.
In his book, titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” Routh outlined his experiences in Ukraine and gave his opinions on the conflict, America foreign policy, and the U.S. political leadership.
This screengrab taken from AFPTV on September 16, 2024 shows Ryan Wesley Routh speaking during an interview at a rally to urge foreign leaders and international organizations to help provide humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and Ukrainian servicemen from Mariupol in central Kyiv on April 27, 2022, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In his 2023 book, Routh said that Iran was “free to” assassinate Trump, and criticized the former president’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images
The book itself is filled with mentions of the former president, whom Routh calls “a fool” and “a buffoon.”
In one section toward the end of the 291-page work, Routh discusses Iran, and lamented the end of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran deal. The deal, spearheaded by Secretary of State John Kerry, sought to restrict Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities in return for the easing of American, European, and United Nations sanctions.
“I would like to celebrate the amazing work of John Kerry that very humbly and humanly handled the Iran deal which elated me and the whole of the world.”
In May 2018, however, the U.S. withdrew from the pact, which Trump had called “disastrous” and said could lead to a “nuclear holocaust.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Harry Reid International Airport to board a plane after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. Ryan Wesley Routh has been arrested under suspicion of an attempted assassination after allegedly carrying a rifle onto Trump’s golf course while the former president was present.
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
“I must take part of the blame for the retarded child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless,” Routh wrote. “But I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize.”
“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal. No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection.”
The book was edited by Kathleen Shaffer, who, according to the Washington Post, lived with Routh and was reportedly his fiancée, as stated in a now-deleted 2022 GoFundMe post urging people to pledge money to support Routh’s activities in Ukraine.
Ryan Wesley Routh’s book, published in February 2023. The 291-page manifesto describes Routh’s experiences as a volunteer in Ukraine, as well as his opinions on U.S. foreign policy.
Remus Cernea, a Romanian activist and war correspondent, interviewed Routh in June 2022, and told Newsweek that Routh was then working as a recruiter for The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine, a unit of the Ukrainian Army composed of foreign volunteers.
Cernea told Newsweek that Routh had become more disappointed with the direction of the conflict when they last met in August 2023, and upset by what he saw as insufficient aid being sent to Ukraine.
Remarking on his potential motives, Cernea said: “Maybe he thought that Trump is not a friend of Ukraine. Maybe if Trump wins, [he thought] the aid for Ukraine would stop.”
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