Trump Assassination Attempt Suspect Ryan Routh Was Coordinating with Foreign Soldiers to Fight for Ukraine — Sought to Recruit ‘Revolutionaries’ to ‘Take This Whole System Down’

In 2022, Ryan Routh sat down with Newsweek Romania

The man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been connected to a bizarre web of pro-Ukraine activism and a history of erratic behavior.

Routh, who was apprehended in West Palm Beach with a scoped AK-47 before the Secret Service intervened, had previously expressed an obsessive fixation on Ukraine and even conducted interviews boasting of his commitment to die for their cause.

In a now-deleted X (formerly Twitter) post directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Routh declared his intentions: “I am an American coming to fight with you in Ukraine; I am flying into Krakow and will take any transport to Kyiv to meet you and fight to the death. We must get every civilian in the world to come and join the fight; I will be the example. Attack Moscow now.”

This troubling rhetoric is just the tip of the iceberg in the strange case of Routh. A resurfaced interview conducted by Newsweek Romania in 2022 showcases his fanatical determination to support Ukraine at all costs.

Routh, hailing from North Carolina but residing in Hawaii, stated, “My initial goal was to come and fight. I believe everyone around the globe should be motivated to come here and support the Ukrainians, regardless of gender or age. Everyone should support the army.”

“But I’m 56 with no military experience, so they told me I wasn’t an ideal candidate for combat. So, plan B was to come to Kyiv and promote getting more people here. We need thousands of people fighting with the Ukrainians. With 190 countries around the world, we need thousands from each. If governments won’t send their military, civilians need to pick up the torch.

“We’ve got some wonderful people here, but it’s a small fraction of what it should be. With only 5,000 to 10,000 people fighting, that’s minuscule compared to the 5 billion people on the planet. We need everyone here fighting,” he added.

But Routh’s bizarre ties go even further. In the interview, he admitted he worked for the International Legion.

A New York Times editorial published in 2022, titled “Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker,” included Routh’s name in connection to a controversial network of foreign fighters joining Ukraine’s war effort, called the International Legion.

The article suggested that Routh had allegedly attempted to funnel recruits into Ukraine illegally, moving them from countries like Pakistan and Iran—an indication of Routh’s deep involvement with international paramilitary activity.

According to an excerpt from the New York Times:

“With Legion growth stalling, Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest.

“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said in an interview from Washington.”