Politics
NEW: Top Reporter Reveals ‘Ukrainian Link’ To Trump Assassination Attempt
A federal motion filed by the Department of Justice has revealed explosive new details in the case of Ryan Wesley Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump. Among the revelations: communications between Routh and a Ukrainian weapons source, in which he sought to obtain rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles for the purpose of targeting Trump.
The DOJ motion, filed in the Southern District of Florida on April 7, lays out a web of evidence that prosecutors say proves Routh had been plotting the assassination for at least six months. The defendant was arrested after being discovered in a sniper hide near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on September 15 of last year.
But it’s the alleged Ukrainian connection that has sent shockwaves through political and media circles. According to encrypted messages retrieved from Routh’s phone, the 39-year-old North Carolina man engaged in a series of exchanges in August 2024 with an individual he believed to be a Ukrainian national involved in arms trafficking.
In those messages, Routh wrote, “Send me an RPG or stinger and I will see what we can do… [Trump] is not good for Ukraine.”
The conversation continued with Routh reportedly saying, “I need equipment so that Trump cannot get elected,” and even included him sending a photo of Trump’s personal plane with the caption, “Trump’s plane, he gets on and off daily.”
Investigators say this was part of a broader pattern of intent. The DOJ document outlines that Routh had also conducted reconnaissance trips to South Florida in March and April 2024, used multiple burner phones, and coordinated an escape plan through Mexico.
He allegedly contacted a smuggler named “Ramiro” just days before the September 15 incident, telling him he would soon be in Mexico City. Notably, authorities also discovered that Routh had previously been convicted for possession of a weapon of mass destruction and had a documented history with high-powered and illegal firearms—including AK-47s and a TEC-9. Prosecutors now argue this history is essential in establishing his capability and intent.
The most controversial aspect, however, remains the Ukraine-related correspondence. While prosecutors haven’t suggested the Ukrainian government was involved or aware, the optics of a suspected political assassin seeking foreign military-grade weapons raise serious national security concerns.
Veteran journalist Byron York of the Washington Examiner broke down the revelations in a widely read column, noting, “It is remarkable how little we know about the two 2024 attempts on President Donald Trump’s life… But we learned something big about Routh in a court filing from prosecutors Tuesday.”
York said Routh’s apparent fixation on Ukraine and Trump’s foreign policy stance, including Routh’s own pro-Ukraine history—traveling to Kyiv, volunteering to fight, and even offering to recruit Afghan soldiers to help Ukraine’s war effort.
“Routh told the associate why he wanted the weapons: ‘I need equipment so that Trump cannot get elected,’” York reported. “And just in case his associate missed the intent, when Routh mentioned the failed Butler assassination attempt, Routh wrote, ‘I wish.’”
Routh had a long-standing obsession with the war in Ukraine. Shortly after Russia’s 2022 invasion, he posted that he was willing to fight and die for Ukraine and later traveled to Kyiv, though his attempts to join foreign fighters were dismissed as “nonsensical” by Ukrainian soldiers.
In 2023, he took his efforts to Washington, telling the New York Times he was recruiting Afghan refugees to fight for Ukraine—even claiming he’d move them illegally from Pakistan and Iran.
Despite his efforts, Routh never made an impact. Prosecutors now allege that his personal contribution to Ukraine’s cause became a plot to assassinate Trump, whom he saw as a threat to Ukraine.
