Ryan Routh, Donald Trump’s would-be assassin, was a former supporter of the ex-President before he changed his mind years ago over foreign policy reasons.
The 58-year-old appeared in court Monday to face federal charges after he allegedly targeted Trump while he played golf in West Palm Beach, Florida the previous day.
Investigators said Routh scoped out Trump’s golf course for 12 hours, from around 2 a.m. to 1:31 p.m. Sunday when a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of his SKS-style rifle sticking out of some bushes on the property.
Routh hated Trump, his son admitted but the attempted attack was “nothing like him.”
In a self-published book, Routh revealed that he had voted for Trump in 2016 but later regretted it after the then-president withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal.
“I must take part of the blame,” he wrote adding that Trump “ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize.”
“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal.”
The Honolulu resident later traveled to Ukraine and made a failed attempt to rally a volunteer force to help in the fight there.
