Donald Trump assassination attempt live updates: Golf partner breaks his silence

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The man who was golfing with Donald Trump on Sunday broke his silence on the terrifying incident.

Steve Witkoff is a friend, campaign donor, and golf buddy of Trump's and is a real estate investment mogul in New York City.

He was with the former president when alleged gunman Wesley Ryan Routh stuck the barrel of AK-47 through the chainlink fencing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday.

Witkoff wrote on X Monday in his first statement since the assassination attempt:

Yesterday was a day I will never forget. I watched my very close friend be his typical strong, courageous and stoic self, concerned about his friends first before thinking of himself. That is the truest example of leadership.

I know President Trump’s truth - which as I said at the RNC continues to march on. Now I have personally witnessed his courage under fire and that is a man who inspires me.

The alleged gunman in the second assassination attempt against Donald Trump never fired his gun and wasn't able to establish a direct line of sight to the former president before fleeing the scene.

Ryan Wesley Routh, the man now charged in the attempt, was on the FBI's radar since 2019 when a tip came in claiming that the felon was in possession of a firearm, officials revealed at a press conference on Monday.

FBI, Secret Service and other federal and local officials also provided an update claiming it appears Routh was a lone wolf actor.

The would-be assassin left behind in the brush of Trump's golf club on Sunday a loaded AK-47 Soviet-style rifle known as an SKS, two bags, a digital video camera and ceramic layered bulletproof body armor

'We do not have information that has been acting with anyone else in present,' the Miami FBI Field Office's Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri told reporters when asked if the shooter acted alone.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

The acting head of the Secret Service told reporters Donald Trump’s golf game Sunday was an ‘off the record’ movement – which did not bring security sweeps far in advance.

Acting Secret Service head Ronald Rowe Jr made the statement at a briefing of reporters Monday in Florida, where he was asked whether agents had searched the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Course Sunday.

A new charging document states that suspect Ryan Routh spent nearly 12 hours in the area in what the FBI reiterated was an assassination attempt before an agent fired on him Sunday afternoon.

‘It wasn't part of his schedule. So there was no posting up of it, because he wasn't supposed to have gone there,’ Rowe said.

He reiterated that stance when defending the level of protection at Trump’s golf course, saying it was essentially the same as it was in 2017 when he was in office.

‘Yesterday was an off the record movement. The president wasn’t even really supposed to go there. It was not on his official schedule,’ Rowe said. ‘And so we put together a security plan, and that security plan worked.’

Rowe said he spoke with former President Trump and said he was ‘aware that he has highest levels of protection’ that the Secret Service is providing. ‘If we need to ratchet up additionally we will,’ he added.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Joe Biden said he tried to call Donald Trump on Monday but couldn't connect with him and would try again later.

Biden was returning to the White House from an event in Philadelphia when he made the comment to reporters.

Earlier in the day, Biden expressed concern the Secret Service did not have enough resources and urge Congress to give them more funding.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw kicked off a press conference just after 4 p.m. ET one day after would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh allegedly attempted to kill former President Donald Trump.

He said that the Secret Service will 'get all the resources possible' from his department as they continue their investigation and protection of Donald Trump.

Bradshaw added that Trump's home is at a maximum security level.

Routh was charged with two federal gun crimes earlier on Monday and is currently in custody.

Bradshaw is joined by the FBi, Secret Service and the United States Attorney's Office.

Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in which he vowed 'every available resource' for the investigation.

The FBI is continuing to investigate what appears to be an assassination attempt of former President Trump that occurred yesterday in Florida. We are grateful that the former President is safe.

The entire Justice Department -- including the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and the National Security Division -- is coordinating closely with our law enforcement partners on the ground.

We will work tirelessly to ensure accountability, and we will bring every available resource to bear in this investigation.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Washington, D.C.

Actress Jane Fonda was the celebrity guest Monday at a canvass kickoff event in Ann Arbor, Michigan for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Grace and Frankie star posed for pictures with volunteers in the important swing state.

Fonda is the latest in a long line of Hollywood celebrities supporting the Democratic nominee.

Harris had a lot of Hollywood representation at last month's Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago including Pink, Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Mindy Kaling.

The VP will travel to Michigan Thursday for an event with Oprah Winfrey, who also addressed the DNC.

Retired Greensboro police officer Tracy Fulk saw headlines about the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Sunday but did not pay much attention to it until one of her friends called.

‘Guess who was going to shoot Trump?’ her friend asked.

When she told her it was Ryan Wesley Routh, Fulk was shocked.

‘I said, you have got to be kidding, I remembered the guy,’ she told DailyMail.com, recalling the moment over 20 years ago when she pulled him over for driving without a license.

Fulk remembered Routh well, noting that he had been arrested multiple times for different infractions.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Joe Biden, as he wraps up his time in office, sat down with the Washington Blade, which bills itself as America’s LGBTQ news source.

In the interview, conducted in the Oval Office, Biden talked about his accomplishments throughout his long political career for the LGBTQ community.

However, he also had a warning: that Donald Trump is ‘anti-LGBTQ.’

Biden’s sit down, which took place on Thursday but was published Monday, was a rare one-on-one interview the president has given to a newspaper outlet.

Most of the conversation focused on his work for gay rights but the president did bring election-year politics into the mix.

‘If you take a position, especially in the MAGA Republican Party now, you’re going to be — they’re going to go after you,’ he said. ‘Trump is a different breed of cat. I mean, I don’t want to make this political, but everything he’s done has been anti, anti-LGBTQ, I mean, across the board.’

Project 2025, he noted, ‘is just full of nothing but disdain for the LGBTQ community. And you have Clarence Thomas talking about, when the decision was made [to overturn] Roe v Wade, that maybe we should consider changing the right of gays to marry — I mean, things that are just off the wall — just pure, simple, prejudice.’

He added that he was worried about violence.

‘What I do worry about is I do worry about violence,’ Biden said. ‘I do worry about intimidation. I do worry about what the MAGA right will continue to try to do, but I’m going to stay involved.’

Biden’s administration has a large number of openly gay officials serving in it, like press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The president said that ‘most of the openly gay people that have worked with me, that I’ve worked with, the one advantage they have is they tend to have more courage than most people have.’

‘No, I’m serious,’ he added, ‘I think you guys underestimate that.’

As vice president under Barack Obama, Biden pushed for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’ As president, he signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, which overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

The president said his one regret was not getting the Equality Act passed. It would have amended the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity.

He vowed to continue pushing it even once he’s out of the Oval Office.

‘We need to pass it. So, I’m going to be doing everything I can to be part of the outside voices, and I hope my foundations that I will be setting back up will talk about equality across the board,’ he said.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

It remains unclear where alleged shooter Wesley Ryan Routh obtained the AK-47 style rifle recovered at the scene of the attempted assassination on Sunday.

The firearm found in the shrubs around Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida is available for purchase in Florida, according to the criminal complaint against the suspected gunman.

Routh was charged in court on Monday with two criminal counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon; and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The destruction of the serial number raises eyebrows because it means transactions for the firearm cannot be traced. It is usually an indication that the weapon was purchased illegally or under suspicious circumstances.

Some claim the rifle was purchased abroad and point to Routh's activity in Ukraine over the last few years amid its war with Russia.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Courtroom sketches are now released showing alleged shooter Wesley Ryan Routh in his first court appearance since his attempt on Donald Trump.

The drawings show the slender 58-year-old in his dark prison uniform.

One sketch shows a team of three in suits surrounding a growning Routh as they appear before the judge at the Paul G Rogers Federal Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The hearing on Monday was eight minutes and Routh was charged on two counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon; and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

It came after Routh was arrested on Sunday 50 miles from a scene where he was witnessed fleeing after pointing a AK-47 style rifle towards Donald Trump while he was golfing.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

An image emerged of alleged shooter Wesley Ryan Routh with famous chef José Andrés.

The co-chair of President Joe Biden's Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition is vocal in active in providing humanitarian aide to war zones across the country.

Andres and Routh have a picture toegher where the 58-year-old suspect was placing mini Ukrainian flags in an open field.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Washington, D.C.

President Joe Biden addressed the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump at the top of his remarks in Philadelphia on Monday.

'I commend the Secret Service for their expert handling of the situation and the former president was protected from harm and the subject is - and is the subject is in custody,' Biden said, slightly mangling his words.

He noted how the current acting head of the Secret Service was in Florida today 'determining whether any further adjustments need to be made to ensure the safety of our former president.'

Biden then spoke out against political violence.

'In America we resolve our differences peacefully at the ballot box and not at the end of a gun,' he said. 'America suffered too many times the tragedy of an assasin's bullet.'

'It solves nothing. It just tears the country apart,' he continued adding Americans 'must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.'

Biden was addressing the National HBCU Week Conference in Philadelphia, giving a shout-out to the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who graduated from Howard, a HBCU in Washington, D.C.

Donald Trump posted to Truth Social blasting President Biden and Kamala Harris after the assassination attempt on Sunday.

'The Rhetoric, Lies, as exemplified by the false statements made by Comrade Kamala Harris during the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate, and all of the ridiculous lawsuits specifically designed to inflict damage on Joe’s, then Kamala’s, Political Opponent, ME, has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust,' the ex-president wrote.

'Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!' Trump added.

A new poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris within striking distance of former President Donald Trump in Alaska - a state Democrats have not won in a presidential election in sixty years.

The new poll was conducted by Alaska Survey Research on September 11 and 12 after the ABC News presidential debate.

It found Kamala Harris down by just five points among likely voters in the northwestern state.

Trump had 47 percent support while Harris had 42 percent, according to the poll.

The last Democrat to win the so-called Last Frontier state was President Lyndon B Johnson back in 1964. It was the only time a Democratic presidential candidate won Alaska in the state's history.

Fans of former President Donald Trump pushed that he get private security after a second close-call with a gunned assassin Sunday.

Among those chiming in was former Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill, known for killing Osama bin Laden.

'Maybe we outsource private security for President Trump ... for God's sake,' O'Neill posted on X. 'How many failures can a crew have? Let me know if you need me ...'

Other X users floated that Trump could use military veterans for security or members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.

Video of the moment Donald Trump's alleged would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested has been released by cops.

Routh, 58, is seen struggling with officers with his shirt and arms over his head after he was surrounded by law enforcement on a road about 50 miles from West Palm Beach, Florida.

He was stopped on Sunday morning just over an hour after he allegedly pointed a rifle through a fence to try and kill the former president while he was playing golf.

Police were able to track him down after a witness saw him fleeing the scene in a stolen black Nissan SUV, and shared his license plate with police.

New details emerged on Monday that Routh could have been in the bushes by the golf course for 12 hours before the terrifying attempt on the former president's life.

Video of the moment Donald Trump's alleged would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh has been released by cops.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

When Trump was shot in the ear he made clear that he was not going to let a would-be assassin's bullet disrupt his campaign.

And again this week there is no sign that the former president will change his plans.

He is due in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday for a town-hall style event, hosted by his former Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. A day later he is due to hold a rally on Long Island at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

And on Saturday he hold a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.

His campaign webpage shows there has been no change to his schedule.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Wesley Ryan Routh was perched outside of Donald Trump's golf course for nearly 12 hours on Sunday before the Secret Service shot at him.

Charging documents released on Monday reveal that the 58-year-old's cellphone was tracked in the wooded area around around the course starting at 1:59 a.m. on Sunday through 1:31 p.m. – when he was seen fleeing the scene.

This new information suggests that Routh was staking out the location and somehow had advance knowledge that the former president would be golfing there on Sunday.

Routh was arrested (pictured) 50 miles from Trump's club on Sunday after the Secret Service opened fire on him when an agent spotted a barrel in the shrubs along the golf course.

He appeared in court on Monday and was charged with two counts – possession of a firearm while a convicted felon; and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

It's unclear where Routh obtained the AK-47 style rifle he left at the scene, especially since it is not a firearm that is available for purchase in Florida.

Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder floated the possibility of a ‘conspiracy’ to try to assassinate Donald Trump, after describing in a press conference how authorities apprehended Ryan Wesley Routh.

His statement, which did not identify any people thought to be a potential accomplice, comes after neighbors called Routh ‘a little cookoo.’

'How does a guy from not here get all the way to Trump International, realize that the president, former president of the United States, is golfing and is able to get a rifle in that vicinity? I think that's a question the FBI and Secret Service are laser focused on today,’ he said.

'Is this guy part of a conspiracy? Is he a lone gunman,’ Snyder asked.

‘If he’s a lone gunman, President Trump is that much safer. But if he’s part of a conspiracy then this whole thing takes on really an ominous tone,’ he added.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reiterated that his state's investigation into Trump's attempted assassination attempt Sunday during a morning press conference.

He also revealed that he has not talked to Trump yet.

I understand that the feds are involved but we do believe that there were multiple violations of state law. We also believe that there’s a need to make sure that the truth about all this comes out in a way, you know, that’s credible.

I mean I look at the federal government, with all due respect to them, those same agencies that are prosecuting Trump in that jurisdiction are now going to be investigating this?

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Washington, D.C.:

President Joe Biden is expected to host the creators and cast of The West Wing Friday for an event marking the show's 25th anniversary.

Deadline first reported on the event, which will come after cast members reunited onstage Sunday night at the Emmys.

Last month, Biden hosted actor Martin Sheen, who played President Jed Bartlet, to the White House, as well as actresses Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, who just penned a book about working on the series.

Actor Bradley Whitford, who played White House aide Josh Lyman, will miss the White House event due to shooting another political series about President James Garfield, Deadline said.

Former President Donald Trump directly blamed President Biden and Kamala Harris' 'rhetoric' for a second failed assassination attempt.

The ex-president spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday, a day after the close attempt on his life at his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.

He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it, Trump said of the gunman.

Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.

The GOP presidential nominee pointed to Democrats' comments accusing him of being a 'threat to democracy.'

He accused his political opponents of wanting to 'destroy our country.'

It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,' Trump said.

Former President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social 'FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT' after the failed assassination attempt.

It is what he said after the first assassination attempt in Butler, PA in July.

The former president included in his post a link to his website to raise money.

Ryan Wesley Routh, the man named as the suspect in a possible assassination attempt at Donald Trump's Florida golf club, urged Iran to kill the former president in a book he self-published last year.

In 'Ukraine's Unwinnable War,' he said he had made a terrible mistake in once voting for Trump, whom he described as a 'buffoon.'

'I must take part of the blame for the retarded child we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize,' he said, after berating the former president for abandoning the nuclear deal with Tehran.

'You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal.

The e-book is still available on Amazon for $2.99.

Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter

Vice President Kamala Harris does not appear to be breaking stride on the campaign trail after the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Sunday.

Harris made the following post on social media on Monday, urging supporters to get back to work to elect her president.

'50 days,' the account read, posting a picture of Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz going onstage at a campaign rally. 'Let’s make every moment count.'

It's unclear whether we will hear from Harris on Monday.

The vice president has a scheduled meeting with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Monday afternoon, as she seeks their endorsement, but the event is closed to the press.

On Sunday, Harris condemned the attempt on Trump's life and 'political violence.'

'We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more to violence,' she added, noting she was 'thankful' that Trump was safe.

Kamala Harris may be 2.5 points ahead in the national polls in the race against Donald Trump, but averaging out the polls in seven key battleground states shows her barely beating the ex-president.

CNN crunched the numbers and found her up just 0.3 points in the battlegrounds.

That gives her a 70 percent chance of winning the popular vote but only a 50 percent chance of winning the Electoral Cllege and the presidency with 50 days to go.

By Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

President Biden departing the White House commented on the second assassination attempt made on Donald Trump.

Before departing on Marine One, Biden said 'thank god the president is ok.'

He also said the one thing he wants to make clear is 'the Secret Service needs more help' and he thinks 'Congress should respond to their needs.'

Biden said the Secret Service is deciding whether they need more personnel.

The comments were Biden's first public remarks on the shooting.

In a statement on Sunday, the president commended the work of the Secret Service and law enforcement and said he was 'relieved that the former President is unharmed.'

'As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,' Biden continued in his statement.

Moscow is never slow to spot an opportunity to make mischief in American politics, and on Monday the Kremlin played up Ryan Routh's links to the war in Ukraine and said it showed the consequences of 'playing with fire.'

Routh had been interviewed by multiple news organizations about a harebrained scheme to fly former Afghan soldiers to Ukraine to fight against Russia.

But he had no military experience and no real idea how to secure the travel permits and passports needed.

Asked about what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt on Trump, Reuters reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

It is not us who should be thinking, it is the U.S. intelligence services who should be thinking. In any case, playing with fire has its consequences

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday revealed some of his private interactions with Donald Trump just moments after a gunman aimed a high-powered rifle at the former president while he was golfing on his Florida golf course.

Johnson, who was en route to Mar-a-Lago at the time agents opened fire and posted a photo with Trump after the stunning assassination attempt, said he and wife Kelly spoke with Trump about what he called 'Providence' and Trump's life being spared.

'He was in very good spirits, as you might suspect, that's who he is. He is so resilient and really grateful to see him,' Johnson said.

'There is no leader in the history of America that has been so attacked and remained so strong and so resilient,' Johnson told Fox News Monday morning. 'He is one of a kind. Is he not going to stop fighting for the American people. It was really encouraging for us to sit and visit with him right after that happened.'

The son of Ryan Wesley Routh, the man named as the suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump's Florida golf club on Sunday, has said his father is not a violent person and did not even believe him to own a gun.

Routh's son, Oran Routh, reached by DailyMail.com shortly after Sunday's shooting, said this was the first he'd heard of the alleged assassination attempt.

'This was the first I heard about it,' the 35-year-old exclusively told DailyMail.com. 'Was my father shot or injured?'

He said his father hates Trump as 'every reasonable person does.

‘I don't like Trump either,’ the son added.

But he said his dad is not a violent person and couldn't believe his father would target the president.

An MSNBC analyst has suggested Donald Trump stop playing golf after a suspected second assassination attempt in less than two months.

The would-be assassin allegedly pointed a AK-47 at the former president while he was on the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon.

The alleged gunman has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, a registered Democrat of Hawaii, who is now in custody.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe will conduct a walkthrough on Monday of Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach.

He will remaining in Florida 'indefinitely,' according to a spokesperson for the agency.

Rowe traveled to West Palm Beach, Florida after the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in just two months.

The acting director has briefings with USSS team on Monday morning and will also meeting with local law enforcement partners that responded to the incident on Sunday.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is directing state-level authorities to conduct an investigation into the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

The incident took place on Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday.

Trump's former GOP primary rival wrote on X:

The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee.

It is one of the several ensuing probes into the events on Sunday that saw a suspect with an AK-47 rifle, GoPro Camera and bulletproof body armor get in the bushlines of Trump's course while he was golfing.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

As multiple investigations open into the second assassination bid on Donald Trump’s life in just two months, one major question is lingering: How did the shooter know the former president was playing golf?

It’s not shocking that Trump, an avid golfer, was on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday.

But it has raised eyebrows that the gunman knew the time and place where the Republican 2024 presidential nominee would be.

Law enforcement have suspect Wesley Ryan Routh, 58, in custody after he fled the scene when a Secret Service agent opened fire when they spotted the barrel of his AK-47 style rifle poking out of the shrubbery of Trump International Golf Club on Sunday.

Some analysts note it’s obvious when Trump is present at his golf club, which is only five miles from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach. The president will travel to the course via motorcade and security presence is massively ramped up when he is on site.

Routh moved from North Carolina to Hawaii a few years ago and is a construction worker.

It’s unclear how long Routh was in Florida before he went to Trump’s golf course with a rifle, backpack, GoPro camera and bulletproof ceramic-layered body armor – all left behind at the scene when he fled from the security detail’s gunfire.

A truck in the driveway of Routh's home in Hawaii has a Biden-Harris bumper sticker