Donald Trump suspect wrote book urging Iran to assassinate former US president

Routh wrote that he once voted for Mr Trump and must take part of the blame for the 'child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless'

Mon, 16 Sep, 2024 - 15:30

Associated Press reporters

Ryan Routh portrayed himself online as a man who built housing for homeless people in Hawaii, tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and described his support and then disdain for Donald Trump – even urging Iran to kill him.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published book in 2023, Ukraine’s Unwinnable War, which described the former US president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the January 6 2021 Capitol riots and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.