Donald Trump has described being grabbed by Secret Service agents after “four or five” gunshots were heard during an apparent assassination attempt while he played golf.
The Republican presidential nominee described the events of Sunday afternoon at his Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in Florida as “quite something”, adding “but it all worked out well”.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is facing federal gun charges after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle poking through the bushes and opened fire on the suspect.
The Secret Service confirmed that the only shots fired in the incident were by its agent.
Routh spent about 12 hours around the golf course in West Palm Beach before he was spotted by the agent, according to an FBI analysis of mobile data.
Speaking as part of a social media event hosted by X, Mr Trump said: “I was playing golf with some of my friends on a Sunday morning and very peaceful, very beautiful weather… and all of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five, and it sounded like bullets.
“The Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me… everybody just got into the [golf] carts, and we moved along.”
Praising the Secret Service for doing an “excellent job” he added: “There was no question that we were off that course.
“I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, [to] get out of [there].”
Mr Trump described the suspect as a “very dangerous person” who he hopes spends “a long time” behind bars.
The former president said the apparent attempt on his life was a “much better result” than the first assassination attempt at a rally in July, as no bystanders were wounded or killed.
“That was some crazy day, and yesterday you had another one with a different result, actually a much better result,” he said.
Routh’s GoPro camera, two bags, and his weapon are all being forensically examined, as is his phone.
Trump’s golf round wasn’t meant to happen
Earlier on Monday, interim director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe Jr, explained that Mr Trump playing golf was an “off the record movement” and he “wasn’t supposed to have gone there” so agents did not have time to search the entire golf course.
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Secret Service ‘needs more help’
Responding to calls for the Secret Service to heighten Mr Trump’s security, Mr Rowe said he had spoken to the former president and he was “aware that he has the highest levels of protection” from the agency.
It comes after Joe Biden told reporters that it was “clear the service needs more help” and called on Congress to “respond to their needs”.
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In what was described by the White House as a “cordial conversation” President Biden also spoke with Mr Trump.
“He was very nice, that he called up to make sure that I was okay,” Mr Trump told cryptocurrency personality Farokh Sarmad, who was hosting the interview on X.
Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe Jr. Pic: Reuters
The president also asked for Mr Trump’s input over whether he “needs more people on [his] detail”.
Authorities so far do not believe that Routh was acting with anyone else, but say he had an active online presence and are compiling details of the subject’s movements in weeks before his arrest.