By Amos Ssemuwemba
Donald Trump has commended the Secret Service after agents swiftly acted when gunfire disrupted his peaceful Sunday golf game, preventing what appeared to be an assassination attempt. The Republican presidential nominee was at his Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when shots were fired, prompting immediate action from his security detail.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, Mr. Trump, addressing the event during a social media broadcast on X, said, “I was playing golf with some of my friends on a Sunday morning—very peaceful, very beautiful weather… and all of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five, and it sounded like bullets.”
He added, “The Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me… everybody just got into the [golf] carts, and we moved along.”
The incident occurred when Secret Service agents spotted a rifle emerging from the bushes. One of the agents reacted swiftly, opening fire on the suspect. No other shots were fired, according to the agency.
The suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, now faces federal gun charges. Mr. Trump described him as a “very dangerous person” and expressed hope that he “spends a long time” behind bars.
Reflecting on the harrowing experience, Mr. Trump praised the professionalism of his security team: “There was no question that we were off that course. I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, [to] get out of [there].”
In addition, the former president acknowledged that this incident had a far better outcome than a previous assassination attempt at one of his rallies in July, during which bystanders were injured. “That was some crazy day, and yesterday you had another one with a different result, actually a much better result,” Mr. Trump remarked.
Despite the alarming nature of the event, the Republican presidential hopeful expressed relief and gratitude that the situation had been contained without casualties.
