Routh wanted to create a foreign force to protect Taiwan. But some listed volunteers said they'd never heard of him
Ryan Routh had repeatedly called for bolstering Taiwan’s defenses against China and hoped to set up a foreign legion akin to that in Ukraine.
The man, who was detained in connection with an apparent attempt to assassinate former president Donald Trump on Sunday, is listed as an “International Volunteer Center Coordinator” on a website named Taiwan Foreign Legion.
The group claims it is “recruiting former military and civilians from around the world” willing to defend Taiwan in the event of a war with China.
CNN reached out to over a dozen people listed as “supporters” on the group’s website. But several said they had not heard of the group or its activities, and some had never heard of Routh.
All claimed they did not know how their names and contact information had been shared on the pro-Taiwan website.
Unlike Ukraine, Taiwan does not have an official foreign legion. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry declined to comment on Routh.
China’s ruling Communist Party says Taiwan is part of its territory, despite never having controlled it, and has vowed to take the island by force if necessary.
The US is bound by law to supply the self-governing island with weapons to defend itself, and support for Taiwan is a rare issue of broadly bipartisan consensus in Washington.
Ryan Routh criticized Trump in his self-published book on the Ukraine war
Ryan Wesley Routh decried Donald Trump as an “idiot,” a “buffoon” and a “fool” in his self-published book on the war in Ukraine and geopolitics.
The 58-year-old, who was detained Sunday in connection with an apparent assassination attempt on Trump, wrote last year about his unsuccessful efforts to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia and also weighed in on multiple global crises.
Routh wrote that the former US president’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 was a “tremendous blunder” that drove Tehran closer to Moscow, which it has supplied with drones that have caused devastation across Ukraine.
Routh also gave his opinions on the political situation in Afghanistan, and urged Afghan refugees to fight for Ukraine.
He also wrote about Taiwan, North Korea and Venezuela, drawing comparisons between the authoritarian rule of President Nicolas Maduro and the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
Appearing to reference his former support for Trump, Routh wrote that he must take part of the blame for electing him as president, writing: “but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake.”
How global leaders are reacting to the apparent Trump assassination attempt
Leaders around the world are condemning the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump and offering their support.
Here’s what they’re saying:
- Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife Sara were “shocked by the second assassination attempt against President Trump and were relieved to hear that it too failed. But we should not rely on luck,” he said in a post to X, adding that he hopes “all measures will be taken to ensure that such deadly attacks on a candidate for the US presidency will be foiled in advance.”
- Australia: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed “concern” and said it is “a good thing” Trump is safe. “Everyone wants the democratic process to be peaceful and to be orderly,” he told reporters.
- Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is glad to hear Trump is “safe and unharmed” in a post on X. This is our principle: the rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world.”
- Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a longtime Trump supporter, said on X: “It is clear that President Trump’s life is in danger, until his victory.”
Here's what we know about the apparent assassination attempt on Trump
The FBI said it “is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination” of Donald Trump at his Florida golf club, just two months after an attempt to kill the Republican presidential nominee at a Pennsylvania rally.
The former president was not harmed.
Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old owner of a small construction company in Hawaii, has been detained in connection with Sunday’s incident, according to three law enforcement sources.
Here’s what happened:
- Gunshots during golf: Trump was moving between holes five and six at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach with donor Steve Witkoff when gunshots went off. The golf game was a last-minute addition to Trump’s schedule, sources said.
- Secret Service spots a rifle: A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of a fence and agents fired at a man in the bushes along the perimeter, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. Bradshaw said his office was alerted at 1:30 p.m. ET that the Secret Service had fired gunshots. The person was 300 to 500 yards away from Trump, an official said. The suspect then fled in a car.
- Witness spots a man in the bushes: A witness saw the suspect run from the bushes and took a picture of his car that led to the suspect’s apprehension.
- Highway chase: Police flooded Interstate 95 before stopping the suspect’s car and detaining him. The suspect was not armed when law enforcement officials took him out of the car, and he has not made any statements. The person in custody is Routh, according to three law enforcement sources.
- Evidence found in bushes: Law enforcement officials found an AK-47-style rifle with a scope; two backpacks that had ceramic tiles in them to augment a bulletproof vest; and a GoPro where the suspect was positioned. “This whole set-up indicates a very high level of pre-planning,” former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe told CNN.
- Mental health assessment: Investigators expect a federal court in South Florida will require “a mental health assessment” of Routh before any possible criminal proceedings, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Man detained in apparent assassination attempt was strong supporter of Ukraine
Ryan Wesley Routh, who authorities suspect was planning to attack former President Donald Trump as he played a round of golf, was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and visited the country in 2022.
Routh traveled to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than two years ago, according to video and images geolocated by CNN to Kyiv’s Independence Square, as well as interviews with foreign press.
Video shows Routh attended a rally at the square in support of Ukrainian troops on May 1, 2022, and visited the same location about six weeks later, where a photo shows him standing beside a Ukraine flag emblazoned with an appeal for international volunteers to support the war effort
In an April 2022 video by AFP in Kyiv, Routh called Putin a “terrorist” and said “he needs to be ended.”
A representative from Ukraine’s foreign legion told CNN that Routh had contacted them several times but that he was never part of the military unit in which overseas volunteers fight.
Routh also expressed support for Ukraine on social media. In dozens of posts on X in 2022, he said he was willing to die in the fight and that “we need to burn the Kremlin to the ground.”
Routh then used Facebook to encourage foreigners to fight in the war. He tried to enlist Afghan conscripts in a flurry of posts, beginning in October 2023, presenting himself as an off-the-books liaison for the Ukrainian government.
This post has been updated with more information on Routh’s time in Ukraine.
"He was never part of the Legion," Ukrainian officer says of Ryan Routh
A representative from Ukraine’s foreign legion confirmed with CNN that Ryan Wesley Routh had contacted them several times but said he was never part of the military unit in which overseas volunteers fight.
Shaguri said “the best way to describe his messages is — delusional ideas.”
Routh expressed support for Ukraine in dozens of X posts in 2022, saying he was willing to die in the fight and that “we need to burn the Kremlin to the ground.”
He also visited Ukraine in 2022, according to video and photos geolocated by CNN as well as media interviews he gave while there.
Routh then used his Facebook account last year to encourage foreigners to fight in the war. He tried to enlist Afghan conscripts in a flurry of posts, beginning in October 2023, presenting himself as an off-the-books liaison for the Ukrainian government.
Journalist who interviewed Ryan Routh in Ukraine describes meeting an "idealistic" man
Newsweek Romania journalist Remus Cernea, who met the man detained in connection with an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Ukraine on several occasions, told CNN he was surprised by Ryan Routh’s involvement in the incident.
Cernea first met Routh in Kyiv’s Independence Square in June of 2022, where Routh was rallying people to join the foreign legion or to help Ukraine through various humanitarian aid organizations.
At the time, Routh gave Newsweek Romania an interview where he said:
When Cernea met Routh again about a year later, he said, Routh was visibly frustrated that more people had not come to Ukraine’s help.
“Why aren’t there thousands of people here in Kyiv coming to support and join the foreign legion, why aren’t they here?” Cernea remembers him lamenting.
