DOJ Publishes Bounty Offer From Would-Be Trump Assassin

Prosecutors for the U.S. Department of Justice released a letter, allegedly penned by the man arrested for attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump as he golfed in West Palm Beach last week, which offers a $150,000 reward to anyone who could “complete the job” of murdering the Republican candidate.

“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” the letter addressed to the “World” reads. “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.”

The alleged author of the letter, Ryan Routh, attributed Democrat and corporate media rhetoric painting Trump as “unfit to be anything, much less a US president,” as motivation for his crime. He also blamed Trump’s decision to cut ties with Iran as the primary reason the “Middle East has unraveled.”

“U.S. presidents must at bare minimum embody the moral fabric that is America and be kind, caring and selfless and always stand for humanity,” Routh wrote, noting that “Trump fails to understand.”

According to court papers, Routh dropped off the letter in a package with an unnamed person “several months prior” to the golf course assassination attempt. It wasn’t until days after Routh’s arrest, however, that the “civilian witness” reportedly first opened the box containing “ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters” and alerted authorities.

The circumstances surrounding the letter’s appearance raise many questions. The content of the letter, however, makes clear that the would-be assassin’s ultimate goal in hiding in the bushes at Trump International Golf Course on September 15 was to permanently remove Trump from the planet by whatever means necessary.

If he couldn’t personally finish the job with his scoped SKS rifle, Routh repeatedly encouraged others, including America’s foreign enemies, to follow through on murdering the former president. In his February 2023 book, Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity, Routh apologized to Iran on behalf of the U.S. for letting “brainless” Trump ever hold office.

“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal,” Routh wrote. “No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection.”

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.