Exclusive photos: FBI pictured removing evidence from bushes where would-be Trump assassin was spotted
By Post Staff Report


Ryan Wesley Routh did not fire shots at Donald Trump, nor did he have a direct line of sight on the former President at his Florida golf course, officials said.
US Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said there was no evidence that Routh had any information that Trump would be playing on the golf course on Sunday, where he staked out the scene for about 12 hours.
Rowe said they found Routh hiding on the public side of the fence along the sixth hole, where Trump could not be spotted as he was traveling between holes.
A map depicting Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.
This is possibly the second assassination attempt on the ex-prez this election.
Trump was previously shot at his rally at Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
This live blog has ended.
Former President recounted the Sunday afternoon assassination attempt that was thwarted by the Secret Service. “It was quite something, but it worked out well, and Secret Service did an excellent job, and they have the man behind bars, and hopefully he's going to be there for a long time. Dangerous person, very, very dangerous person," Trump said. “So I was playing golf with some of my friends on Sunday morning – very peaceful, very beautiful weather. Everything was beautiful, nice place to be, and all of a sudden we heard shots being fired … I guess probably four or five” “Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me,” “We got into the carts, and we moved along pretty, pretty good. I was with an agent, and the agent did a fantastic job. There was no question that we were getting off that course. I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, let's get out of here.” Trump added, “and what the gunfire was, actually, interestingly, was a Secret Service agent had seen a barrel of an AK 47, which is a very powerful rifle, and he started shooting at the barrel" "How good is that, right? Could only see the barrel. Based on that, he started shooting and ran toward the target," The would-be assassin “ran across the street and grabbed his car, hopped into his truck or car, and amazingly, a civilian in that area saw something, and it looked very suspicious, and in the car, drove their car to the back of his truck of some kind, and took pictures of the license plate, gave it to the sheriff's office," Trump said. When asked what he makes of two assassination attempts in two months: “Well, there's a lot of rhetoric going on right now. A lot of people think that the Democrats, when they talk about threat to democracy and all of this. And it seems that both of these people were radical left.” “The first one they should learn more about. They have apps that they haven't opened yet, which is pretty strange. And the father went out and got the biggest lawyer in the state of Pennsylvania, which is pretty strange” – referring to Butler shooter here.Exclusive photos: FBI pictured removing evidence from bushes where would-be Trump assassin was spotted
By Post Staff Report 


Trump describes second assassination attempt during X Spaces interview
By Victor Nava
Atlanta, Ga. -- JD Vance revealed what Donald Trump told him over the phone just minutes after the ex-president became the target of a second assassination attempt on Sunday.
"He says, 'JD, you're not going to believe this, but they tried to do it again,'" Vance said Trump told him on a phone call 10 minutes after Secret Service agents spotted the barrel of an AK-47-style rifle peeking into the former president’s West Palm Beach golf course.
“I said, ‘No, you’re joshing me. But, what’s going on here sir?'” the VP contender said.
Trump then informed him that a gunman -- identified as Ryan Wesley Routh -- planned to take him out in the second attempt on his life in roughly three months.
“I was playing golf and the Secret Service found somebody who was trying to shoot me," Vance said Trump told him.
“I said, ‘Oh my Lord sir, I’m so glad you’re okay,'" he recounted.
Vance said that the former president told him he was fine but was "pissed off" that he wasn't permitted to finish his birdie putt.
President Biden and former President Donald Trump had a "very nice call" Monday afternoon, Trump said one day after surviving an assassination attempt in Florida.
"We had a very nice call. It was about Secret Service protection," Trump told CNN — after Biden told reporters earlier in the day he had tried to reach the GOP presidential nominee without success.
The White House said in a statement released around 6 p.m. that Biden "just spoke with former President Trump, and conveyed his relief that he is safe."
"The two shared a cordial conversation and former President Trump expressed his thanks for the call," the White House said.
Trump on Monday morning directly blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for allegedly inspiring the suspect, Ryan Routh, with their fiery rhetoric about democracy being at stake in the Nov. 5 election.
Biden also spoke on the phone with Trump on the night of July 13 after he was grazed by a bullet at a Pennsylvania rally.
US Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe Jr. ominously warned that the agents at the Protective Service are being "redlined."
While making a public plea for more resources, including for better training and recruitment, Rowe explained that agents are being pushed to the max with the onslaught of major political events such as the party conventions and recent presidential debates.
"You can't just give me money and say, 'Hey, we're going to make sure that everybody gets overtime,' because the men and women of the Secret Service right now, we are redlining them, and they are rising to this moment, and they are meeting the challenges right now," Rowe said during a press conference.
Rowe stressed that he "ordered a paradigm shift" coming out of the Butler, Pa. rally and that "We need to get out of a reactive model, and get to a ready model."
"We don't have an alternative. Success, we have to have it every day. We cannot have failures. And in order to do that, we're going to have some hard conversations with Congress, and we're going to achieve that," he added.
The would-be Trump assassin did not fire shots before he dropped his rifle and fled from his sniper nest, US Secret Service Interim Director Ronald Rowe said Monday.
He also did not have a direct line of sight to the former president when an agent with Trump's security fired shots at Ryan Wesley Routh.
Rowe also added that there was no evidence that Routh, the accused gunman, had direct information that Trump would be at the golf course on Sunday, where he staked out the scene for about 12 hours.
Rowe said agents found Routh hiding on the public side of the fence along the sixth hole, where Trump could not be spotted as he was traveling between holes.
The gunshots heard on Sunday came from the Secret Service agent who spotted Routh, who quickly fled the scene.
President Biden told reporters on the White House lawn Monday afternoon that he tried to call Donald Trump, but was unable to reach the former president and would try again later.
Biden previously called Trump hours after the Republican presidential nominee was grazed by a bullet at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13 — with both men later describing a cordial talk.
#Breaking - Landing back at the White House, pool asks @POTUS whether he’s spoken to @realDonaldTrump - he appears to say ‘I called him, but he wasn’t available. I’m going to try again later’ pic.twitter.com/yfkclrATQx
— Fraser Jackson (@FrazJ) September 16, 2024
Trump on Monday morning directly blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for motivating the most recent attempt on his life.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump told Fox News of alleged would-be assassin Ryan Routh. "Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at."
Ryan Wesley Routh was investigated over a 2019 tip to the FBI about him owning a firearm despite being a convicted felon, the FBI announced during a Monday press conference.
Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri, the head of Miami's FBI field office, said the report came in while Routh was living in Hawaii.
The person who reported Routh, however, would not verify the threat and it was passed along to local authorities in Honolulu, he said.
Following his arrest on Sunday afternoon, suspected Trump gunman Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, invoked his right to an attorney, officials said.
FBI Special Agent in charge Jeff Veltri said Monday that Routh opted to stay silent during his interview with law enforcement until he speaks with an attorney.
Veltri did not say who is representing Routh, who was charged earlier today with possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Mar-A-Lago is under a heavy level of security after Sunday's foiled assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said on Monday during a press conference.
Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after he was spotted armed with an AK-47, GoPro camera, and two bookbags just yards away from the former president at his Florida golf course.
Donald Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt tells The Post the X Spaces streaming event set to take place tonight at Mar-a-Lago was "previously planned," and is not a direct response to Sunday's assassination attempt.
Trump teased the 8 p.m. ET event on social media Monday afternoon, the first known announcement that it was taking place.
The former president previously took part in a live Space with X boss Elon Musk Aug. 12. It was not immediately clear whether Musk would take part in Monday's broadcast.
Former President Donald Trump announced that he will participate in an X Spaces event this evening at 8 pm ET from Mar-a-Lago.
Join me live from Mar-A-Lago at 8:00PM Eastern, tonight on X Spaces. Set a reminder and be sure to tune in! https://t.co/MXTu3hxVFP
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 16, 2024
Trump had previously done an X Spaces interview with tech mogul Elon Musk last month. He is expected to meet with acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe at some point Monday.