The main suspect in the possible second assassination attempt against Donald Trump is a known name among foreign fighters helping the Ukraine war effort — specifically because they didn’t trust him at all.
Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old man currently in custody for pointing a gun at Trump at his Florida golf course, was sending WhatsApp messages in 2023 to an American volunteer with the Ukrainian International Legion, claiming he could produce an entire battalion of soldiers.
The messages, first reported by The Washington Post and obtained and verified by NOTUS, show a fuller picture of how Routh actively tried to participate in the community of foreign fighters and volunteers — and how he was ultimately not seen as trustworthy.
“I have thousands of Afghan soldiers if you need soldiers,” Routh wrote. “They worked with the US so getting background checks is easy.”
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Routh was met with skepticism, told his proposal could be a big “security risk” and that he would not help if he acted on what he was offering.
NOTUS spoke with individuals whose paths crossed with Routh, who described him as someone who rambled, made no sense and caused suspicion that he might be there to hurt the Ukrainian effort, not help it.
Routh also made lofty statements publicly. At the time, Routh was quoted in several media outlets, like The New York Times and Semafor, as an individual actively seeking to volunteer for the war effort. He also had a footprint in Washington, D.C., where he claimed he was lobbying for additional aid to Ukraine.
“Most of the Ukrainian authorities do not want these soldiers,” he told Semafor. Claiming to be the head of an organization to help foreigners connect with the Ukraine war effort, he said he had “partners meeting with [Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense] every week and still have not been able to get them to agree to issue one single visa.” There’s been no public evidence to support that those meetings ever happened.
His attempts at inroads into the Ukrainian military and a community of foreign fighters were rebuffed. Routh’s self-published book also made him a nonstarter for many helping Ukraine.
“American citizen Ryan Routh has never served in the International Legion of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, has no relation to the unit,” the International Legion of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said in a statement.
According to The New York Times, Routh was told he was too old and inexperienced to fight; he had no military experience. Showing up at the border, he thought that “everyone should be there supporting the Ukrainians.” He claimed he was forging passports, bribing officials and arranging U.S. military transport to support Ukraine, according to The New York Times.
Routh was detained Sunday and charged on two counts in federal court Monday for possession of a firearm while a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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