Trump was on the links taking a breather from the campaign. Then the Secret Service saw a rifle
WASHINGTON — Sunday was supposed to be a day of relative calm for Donald Trump, a rare respite so deep into a presidential campaign. In addition to venting on social media, golf was on the agenda.
Then the Secret Service spotted the barrel of a gun sticking out of a fence in the bushes at Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, and everything has changed.
For the second time in just over two months, someone has apparently tried to shoot Trump, coming dangerously close to the former president — within 500 yards Sunday, law enforcement officials said. This time, the gunfire came from the Secret Service before the suspect could fire shots at his target.
The episode raised pointed questions about how to keep the former president safe not only as he campaigns across the country, but also as he spends time at his own clubs and on his own turf.
Trump has since the attempted assassination on him in July, when he injured his ear in an attack that exposed a series of Secret Service failures. When he was at Trump Tower in New York, parked dump trucks formed a wall outside the building. And at outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind bulletproof glass.
But unlike typical VIPs, who live in private homes with high fences, Trump, while in Florida, lives in a club open to paying members, and often spends his free time on his golf courses. And this is a toxic era in the country’s politics.
“The threat level is high,” Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami office, told reporters Sunday. “We live in dangerous times.”
Sunday in the political world began with Trump taking to social media to attack a pop star who had endorsed Kamala Harris — “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” — and complaining about the Post Office and its use of links. Running mate J.D. Vance went on TV to rant about that thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory about immigrants and pets, and refused to deny it. Democrats were furious.
That was all standard fare for the most tumultuous presidential campaign in anyone’s memory. But shortly before 2 p.m., the subject abruptly changed, pushing this election even deeper into uncharted territory.
Trump and golfing partner Steve Witkoff were on the fifth hole of the course and were about to putt when they heard “pop, pop, pop, pop,” according to Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president who spoke to him and Witkoff several times afterward.
Moments later, Hannity said, Trump was taken away in a “speed cart” with steel reinforcement and other protection.
After the Secret Service spotted the gun and then the suspect, an agent fired at him, but apparently missed.
Secret Service agents immediately used their bodies to shield Trump and took him to the golf clubhouse, where he remained until he returned to Mar-a-Lago, about 15 minutes away, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
About an hour later, a Secret Service spokesman said Anthony Guglielmi said the agency and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office were investigating an unspecified “protection incident involving former President Donald Trump,” adding that he was safe.
The meaning was very unclear. It could have been an unrelated shooting or disturbance near Trump, for all the country knew. “There were about 20 or more police cars flying all over the streets in the area,” said Max Egusquiza of Palm Beach, describing the emergency response he saw.
Trump’s campaign released a statement saying, “President Trump is safe following the gunfire in his area.” Again, it did not say whether he was the intended target.
But it soon became known that the Secret Service had fired shots. And about an hour after that happened, Donald J. Trump Jr. posted on X that an AK-style rifle had been found in the bushes, “according to local law enforcement.”
This was eventually followed by a statement from the FBI stating that they were investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
The suspect quickly disappeared, but police were able to identify his vehicle.
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder said his deputies “immediately flooded” northbound I-95 and took every exit between the Palm Beach County border to the south and the St. Lucie County border to the north.
The suspect was arrested within minutes of the FBI, Secret Service and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office issuing a “very urgent BOLO” (be-on-the-lookout alert) detailing the specific vehicle being sought, its license plate number and a description of the driver.
“One of my traffic units saw the vehicle, found the license plate, and we approached the vehicle,” Snyder said. “We caught the car, brought it to a safe stop, and apprehended the driver.”
Snyder added: “He never asked, ‘What’s this about?’ Obviously law enforcement with long guns, blue lights — there’s a lot going on. He never asked any questions about it.”
With that, police arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Kaawa, Hawaii, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officers identified the suspect to the AP but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
The suspect left behind an AK-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tiles inside and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
According to the sheriff, the suspect was located 400 to 500 yards away from Trump, hidden in brush, while the former president played golf on a nearby hole.
“It was certainly an interesting day!” Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday night, profusely thanking law enforcement for keeping him “SAFE.”
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.