Ryan Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course in 2024, was cut off during his opening statement Thursday after launching into a rambling monologue about world leaders and history, as reported by The Daily Mail.
Routh, 59, is representing himself in the federal trial. He began his remarks by apologizing to the jury and posing rhetorical questions.
“What is intent? … Why are we here? What is our intent? To love one another … Is this so difficult?” he asked, according to live reports from the courtroom.
Within minutes, he began referencing Adolf Hitler, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sudan, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Judge Aileen Cannon stopped Routh’s remarks and dismissed the jury.
TRUMP ASSASSINATION TRIAL GOES OFF THE RAILS (AND YES IT WAS ABOUT HITLER)
Ryan Routh – accused of trying to gun down Trump on a Florida golf course – opened his own defense today and turned the courtroom into performance art.
7 minutes in, he was rambling about Hitler,… https://t.co/M0c3NRJlSx pic.twitter.com/fRPP71hhGN
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 12, 2025
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“We have limited patience, and you don’t have unlimited license to go forward and make a mockery of the dignity of this courtroom,” Cannon told him.
When the jury returned, Routh continued by invoking Henry Ford and the Wright brothers, declaring, “This case means absolutely nothing. A life has been lived to the fullest.”
The proceedings opened nearly a year after the September 15, 2024 incident, when Routh allegedly hid in bushes at the sixth hole of Trump’s golf course with a Chinese-made SKS rifle.
Secret Service Special Agent Robert Fercano testified that he spotted the barrel of the rifle tracking his movements. He said he fired at the barrel and the man behind it.
“I saw you in the bushes … you smiled at me,” Fercano said, describing the situation as a “textbook ambush scenario.”
Routh fled after shots were fired. Witness Tommy McGee testified that while shopping for furniture, he heard gunfire and then saw “a disheveled, unkempt, and frantic man” running across the road into a car.
McGee photographed the vehicle and later provided the image and license plate number to police.
During cross-examination, Routh asked McGee if he thought “Madea, Beyoncé, and Michelle Obama” would “be mad” about what he had done. Judge Cannon ordered the jury to disregard the question.
The alleged attempt on Trump’s life occurred just nine weeks after the former president survived another assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The trial is expected to continue next week, with further testimony from law enforcement and eyewitnesses.
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