Suspect in attempt on Trump never served in Ukraine’s International Legion - statement

That’s according to the Legion's official statement published on X, Ukrinform reports.

"American citizen Ryan Routh has never served in the International Legion of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, has no relation to the unit. Rumors disseminated in certain media are not true," the statement reads.

In turn, a spokesman for the Legion confirmed to CNN that Ryan Wesley Routh did reach out to the unit online, but never cooperated with it as "the best way to describe his messages is — delusional ideas."

"We can confirm this person reached out to us online multiple times. He was offering us large numbers of recruits from different countries but it was obvious to us his offers were not realistic. We didn’t even answer, there was nothing to answer to. He was never part of the Legion and didn’t cooperate with us in any way," explained Oleksandr Shaguri, an officer with the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Land Forces Command.

As Ukrinform reported, a shooting was reported at the facility where Republican presidential candidate and ex-president Donald Trump was playing golf.

The FBI said Sunday it was "investigating what it said was an apparent assassination attempt" on Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

A Secret Service agent noticed a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the fence. According to the agent, the attacker was as close as 300 to 500 yards (270 to 450 meters) to the ex-president. Law enforcers retrieved an AK-47 rifle on the site and the suspect was arrested while fleeing after a witness tipped law enforcers on the tags of the car the culprit was driving.

Ryan Wesley Routh, who authorities suspect was planning to assassinate former President Donald Trump as he played a round of golf, expressed strong support for Ukraine in dozens of posts on X in 2022, saying he was willing to die in the fight and that “we need to burn the Kremlin to the ground.”

Routh then used his personal Facebook account last year to encourage foreigners to fight in the war. He tried to enlist Afghan conscripts in a flurry of posts, beginning in October 2023, presenting himself as an off-the-books liaison for the Ukrainian government.