Trump assassination attempt: Suspect backed Ukraine, visited Kyiv for support

KYIV: Ryan Wesley Routh, the reported suspect in an assassination attempt Donald Trump, visited Kyiv in the summer of 2022 to encourage people to fight for Ukraine, he told a news outlet that year.

Ukrainian officials distanced themselves from Routh on Monday, saying they had no links with him and warning that Russia would use his support for Ukraine as propaganda.

CNN, Fox News and the New York Times identified Routh, 58, of Hawaii, as the suspect in Sunday's incident, citing unidentified law enforcement officials. The FBI declined to comment. "A lot of the other conflicts are grey but this conflict is definitely black and white. This is about good versus evil," Routh said in an interview posted by Newsweek Romania in June 2022. His comments suggested he was in Kyiv then.


Reuters video footage showed him in Kyiv in May 2022 at protests calling for international support for Ukrainian fighters. A photograph taken in Kyiv at the time shows him holding a Ukrainian flag and wearing a scarf with the US stars and stripes on it.