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Emerging details about the newest suspected would-be assassin of the former president found the frequently interviewed American “willing to…fight and die” in Ukraine.

“He wanted to be a player.”

(Video Credit: Newsweek Romania)

Little more than two months after his brush with death at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump again found himself targeted in an apparent assassination attempt while playing a round of golf Sunday at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

While diligent social media users worked to archive 58-year-old Ryan Routh’s profiles before they were invariably suspended, details about the arrested suspect’s devotion to the war in Ukraine were readily apparent, not only from his posts but from repeated conversations with the media.

“The question as far as why I’m here — to me, a lot of other conflicts are grey, but this conflict is definitely black and white,” Routh told Newsweek Romania in a June 2022 interview that described him as a recruiter for the International Legion. “This is about good versus evil. This is a storybook, you know, any movie we’ve ever watched, this is definitely evil against good.”

“We need thousands and thousands and thousands of people here fighting with Ukrainians,” he told the outlet. “My original goal was to come and fight. All of us, from the entire planet, should be motivated to support the Ukrainian army, but I’m 56 years old and have no military experience, so I’m not an ideal candidate to actually fight.”

“So plan B was to come to Kyiv and promote the idea of many others coming to join the International Legion. We need thousands of people here to fight alongside the Ukrainians,” he’d argued.

Later, in a 2023 interview with the New York Times, Routh detailed how he’d planned to obtain Pakistani passports for Afghan soldiers fleeing the Taliban to travel to Ukraine to fight.

“He went from wearing the American flag all the time, with crazy hair, to a suit,” said Johnny Rogers to the Wall Street Journal.

A fellow American who worked for a medical NGO in Ukraine expressed, “When he was in the suit mode, he was actively trying to get defense deals. He was trying every single angle he could to do military stuff. He wanted to be a player.”

According to the Daily Mail, one video posted by the suspect online featured him explaining, “Most wonder what I’m doing in Ukraine. This is a center to help people when they come from other countries have a location, someone to talk to as a greeting committee to get them in the location they need to be.”

“We’re helping foreigners be as useful as possible, to maximize their potential. Everyone here is self-funded. Everyone is struggling with money to be fuel. Any support would be tremendously appreciated,” added Routh as the outlet highlighted a post on X where he wrote, “I am willing to fly to Krakow and go to the border of Ukraine to volunteer and fight and die.”

In March of 2023, an interview with Semafor found him explaining his trouble with recruiting as he lamented the suspicions of Ukrainian officials, “The biggest thing is spies. They’re afraid that anybody and everybody is a Russian spy.”

The extent of his effort was highlighted by conservative commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck who shared screenshots said to be related to Routh’s recruitment efforts that included offering $1,200 per month to fight for Ukraine while advocating for nuclear strikes on Russia.

Starbuck added, “He seems to have been totally radicalized by the media and the left in recent years. His writings are filled with lunatic MSNBC style takes on the Ukraine war. His social media shows he was also a big fan of many Democrat politicians.”

“That was his main task–that he assigned to himself,” German humanitarian worker Chris Lutz told the Journal. Having known Routh in Ukraine, he added, “He wasn’t officially assigned by the armed forces of Ukraine. It was just kind of a personal mission to do so.”

In addition to his interviews with the media, the Times noted the suspect had traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe in an effort to get more support for Ukraine. Known as the Helsinki Commission, the newspaper detailed, “The commission is led by members of Congress and staffed by congressional aides. It is influential on matters of democracy and security and has been vocal in supporting Ukraine.”

Kevin Haggerty
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