Would-be Trump assassin issues golf challenge in rambling court filing

Ryan Routh, the man charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump on his Florida golf course, in a Tuesday court filing issued a bizarre challenge to Trump. In a rambling motion laced with insults, Routh proposed that he and the president play a round of golf. If Trump won, he could execute Routh, the defendant wrote. If Routh won, he would get Trump’s job, he said.

Routh also complained that the prosecution had entered new evidence two weeks before his impending court date, leaving him without enough time to adequately respond. If the court wanted to admit that evidence, it should allow him to subpoena Trump or schedule what he called a “beatdown” with the president, he said.

Who is Ryan Routh and how did he try to assassinate Trump? A U.S. Secret Service agent found Routh hiding in some brush near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club on Sept. 15, 2024, the Department of Justice said in a statement. The agent was conducting a perimeter check as part of Trump’s security detail while he was visiting the Miami club, according to the DOJ. The agent saw Routh’s partially obscured face and the barrel of a firearm poking out of the brush, according to the statement. The agent opened fire on Routh, who then ran, fleeing the golf course in a Nissan Xterra. Police later pulled Routh over on Interstate 95 where he was driving northbound.

In the spot where Routh was allegedly hiding in the brush, investigators found an SKS automatic rifle with a scope and an extended magazine, the DOJ said. The rifle’s serial number had been obliterated. Investigators also found a handwritten list of dates with several recent and upcoming public appearances of former President Trump. Routh pleaded not guilty to the charges last October and is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. He is representing himself in court after disagreements with his public defender.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report for details on the charges against Routh.