A new court filing revealed on Monday that Ryan Routh had every intention of following through with his plans to assassinate Donald Trump as he played golf at his West Palm Beach club earlier this month.
The publicly available filing , which was shared by the DOJ, includes a letter Routh had previously sent which takes responsibility while also apologizing for failing to complete his mission. “Dear World, This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you,” the letter begins.
"I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job," it continues, adding that Trump “ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled."
Routh's plan was foiled when he was spotted by Secret Service agents near the makeshift bunker where he'd been hiding for at least 12 hours less than 500 yards from where Trump was teeing off. Secret Service agents fired on the escaping Routh before he could get off a single shot, and Routh was taken into custody less than an hour later by local authorities and remains behind bars pending trial.
The letter was given to authorities by an unnamed friend of Routh's who had a box Routh had "dropped off at his residence several months prior" to the incident, perhaps knowing he would most likely be captured before he could carry out his plan to assassinate Trump.
After learning of Routh's arrest, the friend opened the box, discovering "ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters."