Apparent Assassination Attempt on Trump Sparks Unfounded Claims of ‘Inside Job’

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Quick Take

The arrest of Ryan Wesley Routh in an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has sparked unfounded claims online that Routh had “inside” knowledge of Trump’s plans. Public reports about Trump’s schedule indicated his likely whereabouts, and evidence shows Routh staked out the site for about 12 hours.

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Former President Donald Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when authorities fired shots at Ryan Wesley Routh, who is now under investigation for an apparent assassination attempt on Trump’s life.

Routh, 58, was apprehended after a Secret Service agent spotted what appeared to be a rifle poking out of shrubbery several hundred yards from where Trump was playing. The agent discharged his firearm when he saw the rifle but, the gunman fled the scene in a sport utility vehicle. He was later captured by local sheriffs’ officers, according to the criminal complaint.

Agents who searched the area on the golf course perimeter recovered a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style semiautomatic rifle with a scope and a black plastic bag containing food. Routh was charged with possessing a firearm by a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, the criminal complaint said.

The FBI is leading the ongoing investigation into the incident, and more charges could be filed.

The former president was unharmed, and he later posted on social media, thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for their work. He wrote, “It was certainly an interesting day!”

“The president wasn’t even really supposed to go there,” Ronald L. Rowe Jr., acting director of the Secret Service, said at a news conference on Sept. 16, referring to the golf course. “It was not on his official schedule.”

This marked the apparent second assassination attempt on Trump in recent months. The first occurred on July 13 during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman gained a clear sight line to fire several shots, one of which grazed Trump’s ear. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene. We’ve previously written about misinformation that followed the shooting, in which one rally attendee was killed and two others were wounded.

The recent incident in Florida has fueled unfounded claims that Routh must have had inside knowledge of Trump’s whereabouts and schedule.

A Sept. 16 post on Threads read, “How does someone who’s from North Carolina and lives in Hawaii know where to be in Florida, at the exact location, at the exact golf course, where 45 made a last minute decision to play golf?”

Conservative commentator Graham Allen posted a video on Instagram on Sept. 16 saying, “How did the shooter know the location of the President when it was a NON public/LAST minute decision?! INSIDE JOB!!!!”

However, there is no evidence to support the claims that Routh had “inside” information about Trump. Deducing where Trump would be on Sept. 15, a Sunday, was not difficult, even without notice on an official schedule.

On Sept. 12, Trump posted on X about a planned livestreaming event from his residence and golf club at Mar-a-Lago at 8 p.m. on Sept. 16 to introduce the crypto platform World Liberty Financial. World Liberty Financial also publicized Trump’s involvement in the livestream, making his likely location public knowledge.

There are also online accounts that track the movement of Trump’s planes. This kind of public tracking adds to the available information about Trump’s location and activities.

In addition, news reports have noted that Trump frequently plays golf at his course when he’s in Florida. A BBC article from West Palm Beach reported, “Residents say Trump spends almost every Sunday at the West Palm Beach golf club when he is not on the campaign trail.”

The criminal complaint against Routh suggests that he arrived at the tree-lined fence of the golf course’s southern perimeter at 1:59 a.m. on Sept. 15, based on the location data from his cell phone.

“Agents requested T-Mobile, on an emergency basis, to provide law enforcement with information pertaining to Routh’s mobile phone usage. Those records indicated that Routh’s mobile phone was located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line described above from approximately 1:59 am until approximately 1:31 pm on September 15,” the complaint says. Routh apparently didn’t know the exact time Trump would be there since he staked out the golf course for nearly 12 hours.

The Secret Service has had concerns about Trump’s vulnerability while golfing, particularly at his own clubs, because they are near public roads. According to the Washington Post, Secret Service agents presented Trump with photos taken by news photographers with long-range lenses to capture images of Trump golfing at his club in Sterling, Virginia. Officials told Trump that if photographers could get clear shots of the president, potential gunmen could do the same.

“He selects locations to golf — his own clubs — that are particularly difficult to secure. And then he follows a highly predictable routine on any given weekend,” the Post reported.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.