Newly released court documents about suspect Ryan Routh offer us more details about his movements on Sunday. According to phone records, Routh was in the wooded area near Trump's golf course for about 12 hours.

The records indicated that Routh's mobile phone was "located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line" from roughly 01:59 to 13:31, the criminal complaint said.

Agents found a loaded SKS-style rifle - not an AK-style weapon, as was previously reported. Those types of rifles "are not manufactured in the state of Florida", the court docs said.

The licence plate that accompanied the Nissan SUV that Routh was driving was registered to a 2012 white Ford truck that had previously been reported stolen.

What we know about Routh’s links to Ukrainepublished at 17:15 British Summer Time 16 September

17:15 BST 16 September

Image source, Martin County Sheriff's Office

By Olga Robinson & Shayan Sardarizadeh

There’s been a lot of speculation online about Ryan Routh’s political leanings and in particular his alleged links to Ukraine.

Here’s what we know so far - Ryan Routh spent some time in Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. We’ve put pictures he posted on his own social media accounts through a facial recognition tool and identified him attending at least one event in Kyiv in support of Ukraine.

A blog post about the war published at the time also identified Routh as "an American in his 50s who left his family and job behind to volunteer in Ukraine", along with a picture that bears a strong resemblance to him.

Speaking to Newsweek Romania in 2022,, external Routh said he first came to Ukraine to fight, but was rejected due to his age – then 56 – and lack of combat experience.

He then stayed to help get donations and attract volunteers. Routh told Newsweek that he was working with the International Legion – a Ukrainian military unit that is comprised of foreign volunteers.

However, the Legion told the BBC that "Ryan Wesley Routh has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity… Any claims or suggestions indicating otherwise are entirely inaccurate."

Donald Trump spoke with Fox News Digital this morning, and blamed the "rhetoric" of his rivals Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the latest attempt on his life, saying the suspected gunman "acted" on "highly inflammatory language" of Democrats.

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

Trump said Biden and Harris's past comments cast Trump as a "threat to democracy".

"It is called the enemy from within," he said. "They are the real threat."

Both Biden and Harris have said they are glad Trump is safe and condemned violence in politics.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court in Florida

Image source, Getty Images

It was an unusual morning in the windowless, beige courtroom in West Palm Beach, Florida, where over a dozen reporters were crammed in to catch a glimpse of suspect Ryan Routh.

He appeared in good spirits, glancing around the room at all those who were there to witness the proceedings and joking with the public defender that Judge Ryon McCabe determined he qualified for, as he told the court he had no money.

Routh shuffled in and out of the courtroom in his blue prison jumpsuit during an otherwise typical day in court, with five other defendants charged with a range of crimes waiting for their own hearings.

Routh went last, around 10:36 local time (14:36GMT), turning serious and speaking carefully as he told the judge he understood the serious charges against him. Those charges did not include any references to trying to harm the former president, though the FBI have said they are investigating Sunday's incident as an assassination attempt.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court in Florida

Besides just reading the charges against Routh, the hearing also dealt with several other issues, including whether Routh should be held on pre-trial detention.

A hearing is scheduled for next Monday to determine whether he should remain in custody. Prosecutors are asking that he stay behind bars, citing a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court in Florida

Despite his light and smiley demeanour before the hearing began, suspect Routh was expressionless as the court proceedings got underway, almost always answering "Yes, your honour" to the judge's questions.

Routh was brought into the courtroom just before 10:00 (14:00 GMT) and seated next to a series of other defendants also appearing in court today. During that time, he looked around the small courtroom at the assembled press and others who had come to witness the second man in just two months who has allegedly tried to threaten the former president.

Routh was taken out of the court when other defendants' hearings began.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court in Florida

The brief court hearing in the tiny federal Palm Beach courthouse featured some rather personal details about suspect Routh, as he was asked a series of questions to determine whether he qualified for a public defender.

He was asked how much money he had in his bank account, to which he replied “zero funds”. The North Carolina native told the court that he made about $3,000 a month, and only had two assets - two trucks in Hawaii worth about $1,000 each.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court in Florida

We’ve just finished the first court hearing for the suspect, Ryan Routh, which lasted less than 10 minutes. The 58-year-old was brought in a blue prison jumpsuit with his hands cuffed in front of him. Routh spoke with a public defender for several minutes before the hearing began, smiling and occasionally even laughing as the attorney went over the court procedure.

As the hearing began, we learned the federal charges against Routh - possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obstructed serial number. The first offence is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and the second one, five years.

Palm Beach County's state attorney, Dave Aronberg, says the justice department will file charges against the man suspected to have planned an assassination attempt.

While it has been confirmed the suspect did not fire a weapon at Trump, Aronberg argues he could still face an attempted assassination charge.

The state attorney tells MSNBC that the suspect Ryan Wesley Routh could end up spending "a lot of time, potentially, in prison".

He also notes the suspect could face an additional charge of aggravated assault with a firearm for allegedly pointing an AK47-style firearm at Security Service agents - a move "which could get you up to 15 years in prison".

Image source, Reuters

Alex Lederman
Reporting from West Palm Beach, Florida

Ryan Wesley Routh is reportedly in the courtroom, waiting for the judge to finish with several other appearances before his own.

This is not an arraignment, and he will not enter a plea. In this first appearance, the judge will inform Routh what he is charged with and read him his rights.

The charges come from an FBI criminal complaint based on probable cause.

The judge will then ask Routh if he can afford an attorney and if he would like to hire one. He may ask simple questions to determine his financial status to see if he qualifies for a public defender.

The judge will likely set a detention hearing as a next step. Routh will likely not be offered bail or a bond today, assuming standard procedures are followed.

Donald Trump has just issued a simple message on his Truth Social media platform, posting the phrase: "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!!!".

The presidential candidate also linked to his campaign fundraising website in the same post.

The succinct post is a reference to the first attempt on his life on 13 July, when he stood up after being shot in the ear and addressed the same three-word phrase to the audience at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Days later it became a rallying cry chanted by supporters at August's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - where Trump appeared with a bandaged ear and was officially confirmed as the party's nominee for president in November's election.

Alex Lederman
Reporting from West Palm Beach, Florida

Just outside the federal court where suspect Ryan Wesley Routh is expected to make his first appearance before a magistrate judge, a court security officer with the US Marshalls Service makes an announcement - one he’s made several times already this morning.

“Obviously this wasn't a planned event,” he tells the queuing media members. “This is a very small courtroom with limited seating.”

More than a dozen reporters gather by the door, waiting to be let in once seating is available.

But Routh is slated fourth - and last - on the docket to appear before the federal judge. That means the journalists must wait through three other appearances before seeing the man accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

The security officer says he expects the gathered media members will be able to get seats once family members from the earlier appearances clear out. They’ll be let into the courtroom on a first come, first serve basis.

“Family members take priority,” he says.

Outside the building, TV camera crews and photographers line the blocks on both sides of the courthouse.

The suspect detained in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump did not fire any shots on the golf course, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has confirmed.

In an interview , externalon Fox News, Bradshaw said a Secret Service agent opened fire after seeing a rifle poking through bushes, and it is not known what those bullets struck.

He also said ceramic tiles were found inside backpacks where the suspect was spotted, "which I think was an attempt to have a body armour-type thing hanging on the fence".

"We had this place surrounded with helicopters and dogged within minutes," he said.

Bradshaw said among the questions authorities are trying to answer is where the suspect was staying in Florida and how he got there, given it's believed he was living in Hawaii.

"Other than that, he's in our jail, in the federal holding facility."

The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, could appear in court in the coming hours and is expected to face federal charges

Just one day after the apparent assassination attempt, former President Trump is expected to meet with the acting director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe, CBS News, the BBC's American news partner reports.

Rowe became acting director of the agency after Kimberly Cheatle resigned following the assassination attempt on Trump back in July.

We've got a little more now to bring you from Biden, who spoke to reporters for the first time since Trump faced another assassination attempt at his Florida golf course.

"Thank God," the ex-president is ok, Biden said.

Reporters asked if the Secret Service needed more money or personnel and Biden said they do.

"But one thing I want to make clear: the Service needs more help," he said. "And I think that Congress should respond to their needs if they in fact need more service people."

He added: "They're deciding whether they need more personnel or not."

Image source, Getty Images

President Joe Biden briefly spoke to reporters this morning for the first time since the second assassination attempt on Trump.

"The Secret Service needs more help," Biden said as he left the White House.

He told reporters he has not yet received a full report of the Sunday incident and noted he was thankful Trump was ok.

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The second apparent attempt this year on the life of US presidential hopeful Donald Trump is a reminder that despite the massive $3.2bn (£2.42bn) annual budget of the US Secret Service, that deterrent is not always effective.

Nor has Europe, where the ownership of powerful automatic weapons is generally far lower than in the US, been immune.

On 15 May this year the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot at close range and critically injured by a man with a handgun. He survived to eventually return to public life.

But in the Middle East this year, assassination attempts, mostly laid at Israel’s door, have tended to have fatal outcomes.

On 1 April an Israeli airstrike on Iran's consulate in Damascus killed eight members of its Revolutionary Guards Corps including the man thought to be coordinating arms supplies from Iran to Hezbollah. Iran responded with a major barrage of missiles and drones.

On 30 July Fuad Shukr, a senior commander in the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a building in Beirut. The next day an explosion in a guest house in Tehran killed Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several governments.

Israel did not comment publicly on who was responsible but Iran has vowed retaliation against Israel at a time of its own choosing.

Mike Wendling
US digital reporter

The suspect in the shooting, Ryan Routh, appears to have written a self-published book available on Amazon Kindle and called Ukraine's Unwinnable War.

The memoir was published in February 2023.

In it, Routh paints a pessimistic picture of the war in Ukraine, describing how he lived in the country for five months but was turned away from the country’s International Legion because he had no combat experience.

He never got very close to the war zone, and he complains about the Ukrainian authorities and Ukrainians themselves, saying that the failed to show him and other foreigners much respect.

Various projects he initiated – to recruit soldiers, boost morale, and build drones – ended in failure or were shut down by the authorities.

In media appearances, Routh painted himself as a key player among foreign supporters of Ukraine, but his own writing shows he was far from well-connected or respected inside the country, and was frustrated as a result.

Image source, Reuters

In the last hour, Martin County Sheriff's office has released an image of the suspect Ryan Routh wearing a pink T-shirt with his hands behind his back.

It was taken at the time of his arrest yesterday and is the first picture of him released by the authorities.

Image source, Martin County Sheriff's office