What happened to the man who tried to assassinate Trump at the golf course
Executive summary
Ryan Wesley Routh was convicted by a federal jury in September 2025 of attempting to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump after authorities say he lurked in shrubbery at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach with an AK-style rifle and aimed at a Secret Service agent; Routh fled after the agent fired and was later arrested and prosecuted on five counts, including attempted assassination, and faces a possible life sentence .
1. The stakeout: what prosecutors say happened
Prosecutors describe Routh as having staged a sniper-style observation post along the perimeter of the golf course on Sept. 15, 2024, spending hours hiding in bushes and aiming an AK-style rifle through the fence toward the hole where Trump was playing; a Secret Service agent who was patrolling ahead of the president spotted Routh pointing the weapon, fired at him, and Routh fled the scene without firing a shot at the president, according to trial testimony and the Department of Justice summary .
2. The evidence assembled against Routh
The government presented a suite of physical and documentary evidence at trial: cell‑tower records placing Routh near Trump International and Mar‑a‑Lago, the rifle with an obliterated serial number, a handwritten “Dear World” note found by a witness that called the incident an “assassination attempt” and offered money to “finish the job,” and a list of Trump appearances in Routh’s car — all cited by prosecutors in court filings and the DOJ statement .
3. Arrest, charges and pretrial posture
Routh was arrested in September 2024 after fleeing the course and later stopped on a Florida highway; he was indicted on five federal counts that included attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and weapons offenses, and was held as a flight risk and danger to the public pending trial .
4. Defense strategy, courtroom behavior and self-representation
Routh mounted a self-directed defense after a judge allowed him to represent himself, at times arguing that because no shot was fired prosecutors had not proven an assassination attempt and that the area outside the golf course was a public right of way — claims he raised in a pretrial motion — while court records and reporting also chronicle erratic behavior, including an attempt to stab himself with a pen as the guilty verdict was read [1].
5. Verdict, penalties and scheduling inconsistencies
After roughly two hours of deliberation a 12‑member jury found Routh guilty on all five counts in September 2025; multiple outlets, including Reuters, PBS and the DOJ, report the conviction and note that the attempted‑assassination count carries a potential maximum of life imprisonment . Reporting differs on the scheduled sentencing date — some pieces state sentencing was set for December 2025, while other accounts list February 4, 2026 — a discrepancy reflected in the available sources [1].
6. Context, competing narratives and open questions
Coverage of the case sits amid broader debate over whether the government’s evidence proved intent absent a fired shot (a defense point highlighted in court filings) and has been framed by outlets as both a narrowly averted assassination and as one in a string of plots against the candidate; the record shows strong prosecutorial claims (letters, planning evidence, weapon possession) and eyewitness testimony, but some reporting and Routh’s own filings emphasized legal technicalities and his disputed account of the perimeter’s public access — matters the jury resolved against him at trial [1]. Independent reporting confirms Routh’s prior felony gun conviction and firearm‑ownership bar, a fact prosecutors used to bolster their case, but publicly available sources do not resolve every evidentiary or motive question raised during the proceedings .