Ryan Wesley Routh disclosed this twisted fantasy in a book he self-published last February. He wrote that he is looking forward to WWIII and expressed his desire to burn down the Kremlin.
"I do dream of the day that we cross over into Russia and march toward Moscow. That is the part of this third world war that I look forward to," Routh stated. "I want to be the one that burns down the Kremlin and all the cruelty that it signifies."
In another part of the book, Routh criticized Trump for pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and said he must share the blame for voting for the former president. "I must take part of the blame for the retarded child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless," he wrote.
"But I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake – and Iran, I apologize. You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment."
Unfortunately, Tehran chose not to heed Routh's plea – prompting him to take matters into his own hands. On Sept. 15, he tried and failed to assassinate Trump while the former president was golfing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He hid in the bushes at the golf course, armed with a rifle and some rations.
But as Routh was about to fire, a Secret Service agent spotted the muzzle of his rifle – prompting the bodyguard to shoot at Routh's direction. The would-be shooter quickly escaped in a black Nissan SUV, but a concerned citizen managed to take a picture of the getaway vehicle's license plate. This was then forwarded to law enforcement, who managed to apprehend Routh.
Routh also linked to Ukraine
The 58-year-old would-be assassin expressed his wish to fight in Ukraine on both social media and in the book. Routh reportedly traveled to Ukraine in 2022 at the height of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, he told Newsweek Romania in an interview at the time that he was too old to fight.
The following year, he told Semafor that his "plan B" was to help recruit people worldwide for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion (UFL). But during this interview, Routh complained that Kyiv didn't want to take in Afghan soldiers.
Semafor released a follow-up article following Routh's arrest, saying that the would-be shooter was the head of a group he founded called the International Volunteer Center at the time of his interview. The article cited a Ukrainian involved in foreign recruitment, who said Routh was "even by the standards of that frantic moment, a bit over the top."
Despite this, the same Ukrainian national also mentioned that Routh was authentically involved in the efforts to bring in foreign troops. But since his arrest, the UFL has distanced itself from the would-be assassin. The legion told Euronews that Routh "has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the [UFL] in any capacity.
Even the neo-Nazi Azov Brigade, a unit in the Ukrainian National Guard, has distanced itself from Routh. The would-be assassin reportedly appeared briefly in the brigade's propaganda video from May 2022. (Related: Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh buddied-up with neo-Nazi Azov Brigade in Ukraine.)
"We would like to officially state that Routh has no connection to Azov and has never had any connection to Azov," the military unit said. It added that the event shown in the May 2022 video where Routh appears was a demonstration that anyone could attend.
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