What was Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Wesley Routh’s connection to Ukraine?

Ryan Wesley Routh, the man suspected in a Sept. 15 apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump at the former president’s Florida golf club, has spent much of the past few years focused on Ukraine after Russia invaded in February 2022.

Routh appeared Sept. 16 in a West Palm Beach, Florida, federal court, charged with two federal gun crimes. Additional charges are possible as the investigation continues.

News reports, interviews of Routh and his social media feeds show that the Hawaii resident was emotionally invested in the Ukraine war, writing on X that he was willing "to fight and die" for Ukraine. 

Despite that, he wrote in his 2023 book, "Ukraine’s Unwinnable War," that he "wasted 5 months" on the ground in Ukraine "with no measurable success." 

PolitiFact reviewed Routh’s book, which described him gathering military gear and traveling to Poland sometime after the Russian invasion. He said he was turned away at the border office "of the legion," an apparent reference to the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine, which recruits non-Ukrainian citizens for the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Routh said he was 56 at the time with no military experience and was "reluctantly turned away by the staff." Undeterred, he said he offered to find recruits for the war effort and went to Kyiv where he established an International Volunteer Center in a tent at Independence Square.

Routh wrote that he doesn’t have major combat experience, and the Kyiv legion office tells people like him to "GO HOME." He said interactions with government employees made clear "that we are not liked nor wanted."

We contacted Ukraine’s Ministry for Defense for comment, but didn’t immediately hear back.

Legion spokesperson Oleksandr Shahuri told The Associated Press and NBC News that Routh neither served in the Ukrainian army nor worked with its military.

Shahuri told the AP that Routh occasionally contacted the Legion with "nonsensical ideas" that "can best be described as delusional."

A Legion spokesperson told PolitiFact in an email, "Ryan Wesley Routh has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity. Any claims or suggestions indicating otherwise are entirely inaccurate."

The Azov Brigade, a former militia that is now part of Ukraine’s National Guard, said in an X post that Routh has no connection to it after videos circulated of Routh at a 2022 rally.

"We would like to officially state that Ryan Wesley Routh has no connection to Azov and has never had any connection to Azov. The peaceful demonstration he attended was open and anyone could join it. He was caught on the video filmed by the protesters by accident," the brigade said, blaming Russian propaganda for spreading the video.

In his book, Routh wrote about assassination several times, including one comment about Trump. He expressed regret for his past support of Trump, whom he called a "retarded child." He criticized U.S. sanctions against Iran and Trump’s ending U.S participation in the Iran nuclear deal, writing, "You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal. No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection."

One chapter of the book is titled, "Why has Putin not been assassinated?" In it, Routh writes that he also "spoke to many people from Belarus as to why we have not assassinated (President Alyaksandr) Lukashenka."

Ryan Wesley Routh pays tribute to foreign citizens killed during Russia-Ukraine war in central square in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 30, 2022. (AP)

Routh was interviewed by several media outlets in recent years about his efforts to recruit volunteers to fight in Ukraine.

In 2022, he was interviewed by Remus Cernea, a Romanian activist and war correspondent for Newsweek Romania. The article said Routh urged civilians to come fight in Ukraine, calling inaction "an indictment of all humanity." He also suggested that other countries send troops and claimed he was working with the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine.

Cernea told PolitiFact in an email that Routh wanted to recruit soldiers for the International Legion, but had no affiliation with the organization.

He met Routh several times in Maidan Square in Kyiv, but said Routh’s hopes of recruiting foreign volunteers from there was "doomed to fail," because those who want to come fight are already in contact with the Legion before coming to Ukraine.

Cernea said Routh asked him in August 2023 to help get Romania transit visas for fighters from Asian countries, but he declined.

"I kept some distance from him since then," Cernea said. "I think it's not enough to have a good cause, helping Ukraine, it's also important to use legal and right tools to serve it. Otherwise, you can harm it."

Cernea, who wrote an account of his meetings with Routh for Newsweek, said he didn’t recall Routh mentioning Trump.

The New York Times and Semafor, a news site, also interviewed Routh for 2023 articles.

Routh spoke about his efforts to recruit former Afghanistan soldiers to fight in Ukraine, and having those recruits rejected by Ukraine.

"Most of the Ukrainian authorities do not want these soldiers," he told Semafor in March 2023.

Semafor described more of that interview in a Sept. 15 article, saying Routh said Afghan recruits were rejected because authorities were worried about Russian spies.

Routh told The New York Times, also in March 2023, that he was still seeking Afghanistan recruits that he planned to move from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, suggesting he might illegally purchase passports in Pakistan because "it’s such a corrupt country." Routh was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the interview.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff, The New York Times reporter who interviewed Routh, wrote in a Sept. 15 article that looking back at the interaction, "It was clear he was in way over his head."

UPDATE: Sept. 17, 2024: This story has been updated to include a statement from the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine.

UPDATE: Sept. 18, 2024: This article was updated to include comments from an interview with Remus Cerna, a Newsweek Romania war correspondent who interviewed Routh in 2022.