Trial of man accused of Trump assassination attempt at Florida golf course gets underway Juliette ArcodiaSeptember 8, 2025 at 7:18 AM 0 Ryan Routh during a rally in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 17, 2022. (Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters ) FORT PIERCE, Fla.
- - Trial of man accused of Trump assassination attempt at Florida golf course gets underway
Juliette ArcodiaSeptember 8, 2025 at 7:18 AM
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Ryan Routh during a rally in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 17, 2022. (Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters )
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — The trial of a man accused of attempting to gun down Donald Trump on his golf course is scheduled to begin Monday, nearly a year after a Secret Service agent rousted the suspect from a hiding place at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Ryan Wesley Routh, a 59-year-old Hawaii resident and former Trump supporter, will be representing himself when jury selection gets underway at the federal court in Fort Pierce, which is part of the Southern District of Florida.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, called Routh's bid to serve as his own lawyer a "bad idea" when he first requested it in July.
But Routh insisted he and his attorneys were "a million miles apart," and his court-appointed public defenders agreed, stating the relationship with Routh was "irreconcilably broken."
So Cannon has ordered that the defenders remain in the courtroom on standby as the prosecutors and Routh himself begin choosing potential jurors out of a pool of 180 people from the surrounding area.
The panel of 12 jurors and four alternates is expected to be selected over three days, and opening statements are scheduled to begin on Thursday.
FBI investigators at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 16, 2024, the day Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested. (Amy Beth Bennett / TNS via Getty Images file)
At a hearing last week, Routh said he wanted to subpoena Trump. And, in addition to the four character witnesses Cannon has already approved, Routh asked that several other witnesses be allowed to testify on his behalf, including a former paramour who would attest to his gentleness.
"That is clearly absurd," Cannon said in denying the request.
Cannon is the same judge who dismissed the charges against the president for allegedly mishandling classified documents at his home at Mar-a-Lago.
Prosecutors said they do not plan to call Trump as a witness, and the president is not expected to attend the trial. NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment on the upcoming trial.
Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate and assaulting a federal officer, plus several firearm violations. He faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge. And he is currently being held without bail at the federal jail in Fort Pierce.
Routh, who was arrested on Sept. 15 of last year, has been shackled at the waist, hands and feet and dressed in prison scrubs during his court appearances.
For the duration of what is expected to be a three-week trial, Cannon has ordered that Routh be allowed to wear professional business attire.
Cannon is also allowing Routh to question witnesses from the podium in the well of the courtroom, but he will not be allowed to wander from that spot.
"If you make any sudden movements, marshals will take decisive and quick action to respond," Cannon said at the hearing last week.
Prosecutors say Routh methodically plotted to kill then-candidate Trump for weeks before he hid himself in the shrubbery at the golf course and waited for his target. But before Trump came into his sights, a Secret Service agent spotted Routh, they say.
Ryan Routh is apprehended by police in Florida on Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office)
Routh, prosecutors say, allegedly aimed his rifle at the agent, who then opened fire. The suspect dropped his weapon and fled without firing a shot. He was caught a short time later.
Prosecutors also say Routh left behind a note describing his intentions.
During the court hearings and in motions, Routh has repeatedly disparaged Trump as a "fragile victim," an "insecure ego idiot-mad fool" and a "baboon," and even challenged the president to a golfing duel.
"A round of golf with the racist pig, he wins he can execute me, I win I get his job. (sorry hillbilly Vance)," Routh said in a recent motion, referring to Vice President JD Vance.
The judge has warned Routh multiple times that she will not allow any outbursts or inappropriate behavior from him during the trial. If he does not comply, she said, she would reinstate his standby counsel.
Led by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley, prosecutors have released a 46-person potential witness list that includes both FBI and Secret Service agents.
Their possible evidence includes Routh's text messages, his internet search history and security footage from the scene.
Prosecutors also plan to introduce a portion of Routh's "Dear World" letter, which stated, among other things, "This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you."
Cannon has not yet ruled on which portions of that letter will be allowed at trial.
Routh said on social media that he supported Trump in 2016. But by 2020, he had soured on him, he said, writing in June of that year, "I will be glad when you gone."
He also weighed in on international conflicts, vowing support for Ukraine and at one point requesting Cannon make a "prisoner swap," stating, "I had wished for a prisoner swap with Hamas, Iran…. A Ukrainian soldier so I could die being of some use and save all this court mess — but no one acts; perhaps you have the power to trade me away."
Cannon rebuffed that request in July, telling Routh there would be no talk of "prisoner swaps" during the trial.
In addition to the federal charges, Routh has also pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.
Source: "AOL General News"
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