Fort Pierce, FL. — Ryan Wesley Routh, 59, was sentenced to life in federal prison plus an additional 84 months for the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and multiple related violent and firearms offenses.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Southern District of Florida imposed the sentence following Routh’s conviction by a federal jury on all five counts charged in the indictment.
The charges stem from a September 2024 incident at Trump International Golf Club in Florida, where prosecutors said Routh planned and attempted to carry out a sniper-style assassination. After a two-week trial in September 2025, jurors found Routh guilty of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assault on a federal law enforcement officer, and multiple firearms offenses.
According to evidence presented at trial, a U.S. Secret Service agent was patrolling one hole ahead of Trump when he observed Routh pointing what appeared to be an AK-style rifle from a concealed sniper’s position along a fence line bordering the golf course. Fearing for his life and the safety of Trump, the agent fired at Routh, who fled the scene.
Law enforcement later recovered a Norinco SKS rifle equipped with a scope, a loaded magazine with 19 rounds and one chambered round, steel body armor plates, and a camera mounted to the fence and aimed at the green Trump was about to play.
Routh was apprehended shortly afterward while driving north on Interstate 95 by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. A search of his vehicle uncovered multiple mobile phones and a list of international flights with directions to Miami International Airport. Cell phone records showed Routh repeatedly accessed cell towers near the golf club and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in the weeks leading up to the attack.
Trial testimony also revealed that months earlier Routh had left a box at a witness’s residence containing a handwritten letter addressed “Dear World,” in which he wrote, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.”
Federal officials described the sentence as a firm rejection of political violence.
“Ryan Routh’s heinous attempted assassination of President Trump was not only an attack on our President — it was a direct assault against our entire democratic system,” said Pamela Bondi, adding that Routh “will never walk free again.”
“This life sentence reflects a fundamental truth: political violence is un-American and will never be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones, crediting the Secret Service agent’s actions with preventing a national tragedy.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the sentence demonstrates that “the justice system will not tolerate such heinous attacks,” while noting the extensive, multi-agency investigation that followed the attempted assassination.
The case was investigated by the FBI Miami Field Office with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local law enforcement agencies. Federal prosecutors from the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the Southern District of Florida handled the prosecution.
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