Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York

Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt on Sunday, a mere two months after the Republican presidential nominee was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler.

There were no bullets fired by the suspect in Sunday's incident, thanks to what the Secret Service has labelled as a "hyper vigilant" agent who spotted a gun muzzle poking out from bushes at Trump's Florida golf course.

The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, faced court today and was charged with federal gun crimes. He could potentially face more charges.

The FBI is investigating Routh's social media accounts, which show a man with a strong focus on the war in Ukraine. The 58-year-old also has a criminal history dating back to the 1990s.

In his first public comments since the most recent incident, Trump described hearing "four or five shots" in a live event on X on Monday evening. "The Secret Service did a great job," he said, blaming "political foes" for "rhetoric" that preceded the shooting.

There have been bi-partisan calls to better protect presidential candidates after this second disturbing incident in a matter of weeks. And there still 49 days until the presidential election.

We are wrapping up our live coverage, but we have a host of further reading and videos on the topic.

• Here's what we know about Ryan Routh
• This video from Ros Atkins shows how close the alleged gunman got to Trump.
• And this analysis from Anthony Zurcher explains how political violence has become America's new norm - but is still shocking.

During his address on X, Trump also recalls the attack against his life in July in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“That was some crazy day, and yesterday you had another one with a different result, actually much better result,” Trump says.

"Perhaps it's God wanting me to be president to save this country," he says.

He blames the two incidents on “rhetoric” from his political foes, which he says have referred to him as a “danger to democracy”.

“Looks like they were both radical leftists,” he says of the suspected perpetrators of the two incidents, without providing evidence.

Trump notes that a “civilian” woman in the area was able to get a picture of the gunman’s number plate and provide it to authorities, who then tracked him down.

Trump, speaking in a live X Spaces event to promote cryptocurrency, is talking about the latest attempt on his life.

He says he was golfing on a “beautiful day” when he heard “probably four or five” shots ring out in the near-distance.

He was immediately evacuated by the Secret Service, which he praises for doing an “excellent job” by identifying and engaging the gunman after seeing a rifle barrel in the bushes, as well as by evacuating him from the golf course, saying that they “moved along pretty good” once danger was detected.

“I would have liked to sink that last putt, but we decided, let’s get out of here,” he adds, in his first comments since the attack at his Florida home.

Donald Trump is talking publicly for the first time about the apparent assassination attempt against him.

Stay with us as we bring you a summation of what he says.

Image source, Reuters

Photographs taken on Monday show what appears to be suspect Ryan Routh's home in Ka'a'awa, Hawaii.

The home is located in a small community on the island of Oahu, about 25 miles (40km) north of Honolulu.

The images show the house's entrance decorated with a fish motif and with a boat hanging over the door.

A truck parked outside the house has a Biden-Harris campaign sticker on the rear. It's unclear who that truck belongs to.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Ryan Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, is a vocal supporter of Ukraine.

Journalist Guillaume Ptak shared this interview filmed in Kyiv in June 2022 with the BBC, in which Routh encouraged recruitment to help the country fight Russia.

Routh told the New York Times in 2023 that he wanted to assist the war effort, and was seeking to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.

In a telephone interview with the paper, he said dozens of soldiers had expressed interest. He also said he planned to move them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, in some cases illegally.

Mike Wendling
US digital reporter

Ryan Routh posted a long, rambling, self-published book on Amazon called Ukraine’s Unwinnable War.

I've been flipping through it today. In it, Routh talks of feeling disrespected by Ukrainians and about the struggles he had in contributing in any meaningful way to the war effort during his five months in the country.

But he also digresses and touches on a number of other flashpoints around the globe.

One passage has caught the attention of many journalists. In a section directed at Iranian authorities, he apologises for supporting Donald Trump and writes: “You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgement and the dismantling of the (Iran) deal”.

Elsewhere in the book are many extremely graphic pictures of dead bodies, victims of war and gore.

The 291-page document was put online in February of last year.

Image source, Reuters

Earlier, we heard from law enforcement officials who said security measures around Donald Trump and his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida were extensive.

These photos from today show some of the efforts in place to protect the former president.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

The suspect in the apparent Trump assassination attempt made multiple small-dollar donations to Democratic presidential candidates during the 2020 election cycle, Federal Election Commission records, external show.

Ryan Wesley Routh made a total of 19 contributions, as low as $1 (£.76) and as high as $25 (£18.92), according to records.

His contributions went to campaigns for Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, Tulsi Gabbard and Tom Steyer - Democratic primary candidates who lost to Joe Biden.

Routh’s largest donation - $25 - was to O'Rourke in 2019. It was also Routh's first contribution.

He has made no contributions since the 2020 cycle, according to the records.

The White House says President Joe Biden just finished speaking with Donald Trump after the incident at his golf club in Florida.

The president told Trump he was relieved "that he is safe", according to a White House official. The two shared a "cordial" conversation and Trump thanked Biden for the call.

A statement from Trump, issued by his campaign to US media, said: "We had a very nice call. It was about Secret Service protection.”

Earlier, the White House had confirmed Biden tried calling Trump after the incident but the two didn't get to speak. Biden had said he would try to phone Trump again.

Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspected gunman in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, is scheduled to appear in court again next Wednesday.

The 58-year-old is due to appear on 25 September for a detention hearing, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

Routh - who is originally from North Carolina but was living in Hawaii most recently - appeared in court earlier today, charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm.

Earlier, the Martin County Sheriff's Office in Florida released a video of Routh's arrest after he fled the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach where a Secret Service agent fired several rounds towards what appeared to be a rifle poking out from the tree line.

Image source, Martin County Sheriff's Office

We've just heard that Ryan Routh's public defender - a lawyer provided for free to a defendant who cannot afford one in a criminal case - has been approved by the federal court in Florida.

Kristy Militello has already filed a motion with the court, emphasising her client has invoked his right to remain silent and to have a lawyer present "with respect to any and all questioning or interrogation, regardless of the subject matter".

A short while ago, the FBI, Secret Service and local sheriff gave us an update on the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Here's what they said:

• The suspect did not fire a shot at Trump or the Secret Service agent who spotted him, we were told
• An agent was sweeping holes at Trump's golf course, while the former president played, and spotted a rifle's barrel - the Secret Service says its agent's "swift" action and "hyper vigilance" stopped the suspected gunman from getting a line of sight to Trump
• It's not known how the suspect, Ryan Routh, knew Trump would be at the golf course - the Secret Service says the trip was not on Trump's schedule and "he wasn't even really supposed to go there"
• FBI agents are interviewing family, friends and colleagues of Routh's in Hawaii
• The FBI says at this stage, there's no evidence that the suspect acted with anyone else

The FBI's Jeffrey Veltri says there's no information at present to suggest the suspect was acting in any co-ordination with another person.

"We're still exploring that," he explains, but "we do not have information that he's been acting with anyone else."

Sheriff Bradshaw adds that Trump's protection team should be "proud" of the work they've done: "The suspect didn't even get close to getting a round off."

And that's us all caught up on the news conference.

United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has been "phenomenal" in assisting the Secret Service, Rowe tells the news conference, adding: "He is one of our biggest champions."

It comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier criticised Mayorkas's department, which oversees the Secret Service.

Speaking to Fox News, Johnson praised "some really patriotic, great people working in the Secret Service", but criticised leadership over what had happened at the weekend.

"I have no faith in Mayorkas," Johnson told the outlet.

Image source, Getty Images

The joint FBI, Secret Service and local law enforcement update has now ended.

We'll bring you the remaining key lines in our next few posts - stay tuned.

Image source, Getty Images

Ron Rowe, acting Secret Service director, says Trump has "the highest level" of security and that the "footprint" of his security detail is very similar to what he had when he was still president.

Rowe repeats that Trump wasn't supposed to go to the golf course on Sunday, and that agents were forced to put together a plan with little advance notice.

"We put together a security plan, and that security plan worked," he says.

Now answering reporters' questions, Rowe, of the Secret Service, says Donald Trump's appearance at his golf course at the weekend was off the record.

"It was not on [Trump's] schedule... he wasn't even really supposed to go there," Rowe says.

Asked if there was any indication the suspect knew Trump would be there ahead of time, the official adds: "Based on what I know now, and it's an active investigation, I don't have any information on that."

Rowe continues, commending President Joe Biden for ordering "increased assets" to protect presidential candidates.

Those increased assets were in place yesterday, Rowe says, and included snipers, counter surveillance, drones and counter assault teams.

Rowe says the agent's hyper vigilance and swift action was "text book".

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing from acting Secret Service director Ron Rowe, who says the incident occurred while Trump was playing golf during an off-the-record movement.

Trump was moving "across the course and out of sight of the sixth green", at which point an agent who was "visually sweeping the area... saw the subject armed with what he perceived to be a rifle, and immediately discharged his firearm", Rowe says.

"The subject who did not have line of sight to the former president, fled the scene. He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent with reports of gunfire."