NYT reporter opens up about interviewing Trump shooting suspect in 2023
New York Times Ukraine correspondent Thomas Gibbons-Neff shared what he thought upon learning a man he previously interviewed had attempted to assassinate former President Trump.
The man suspected of an assassination attempt on former President Trump’s life on Sunday went on the record with the New York Times last year to promote his efforts to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight the war in Ukraine.
More than a year ago, Ryan Routh spoke to the New York Times after spending "months" in Ukraine during its war against Russia. Routh, whom the New York Times described as a former North Carolina construction worker, told the outlet that as the number of foreign volunteers fighting on behalf of Ukraine in a military unit called the International Legion dwindled, he was working to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to join the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
"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," the New York Times reported in an article published on March 25, 2023.
"We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country," Routh told the outlet in an interview from Washington, D.C.
RYAN ROUTH, ARMED MAN ARRESTED AT TRUMP GOLF COURSE, POSTED PROLIFICALLY ABOUT TRUMP, POLITICS
Ryan W. Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Trump, stands handcuffed after his arrest during a traffic stop near Palm City, Florida, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters)
Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after allegedly taking an AK-47-style rifle to the Trump International Golf Club, and pointing it through a chain-link fence toward where Trump was playing golf.
Routh fled the area in his car and was soon apprehended by authorities on I-95. Trump was not injured during the incident, and the campaign quickly issued a statement that he was safe on Sunday afternoon.
Fox News Digital pored over Routh’s apparent social media accounts on Sunday and found he prolifically posted about world events, Trump, the 2020 election, and the previous attempt on Trump’s life in July.
ALLEGED TRUMP GUNMAN RYAN ROUTH HAS A PAPER TRAIL OF PRO-UKRAINE ADVOCACY: REPORTS
Former President Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Thursday, in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
"I am flying to Ukraine to fight. We need to launch a media campaign to encourage every human around the globe to meet in Ukraine and join in the fight. We need hundreds of thousands of civilians to make the cost of war high for putin and a flood of fighters," he posted on Feb. 17, 2022.
Following repeated messages declaring his intention to fight on behalf of Ukraine, he posted in April that he was in Kyiv.
"I am here in kyiv and want to use Independence Park to create a tent city of all the foreigners here in support to get thousands more foreign civilians to come and support Ukraine," the account posted.
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In another post, he declared in all caps that he was willing to "FIGHT AND DIE" in Ukraine.
Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh is taken into custody Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in bodycam footage released Monday. (Martin County Sheriff's Office )
"I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE," he posted in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
His X account was suspended following police confirming his name on Sunday.
The New York Times reporter who interviewed Routh last year about his efforts in Ukraine published an essay Sunday regarding the interview and article. The reporter, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, explained that he was put in touch with Routh by a former colleague from Kabul, and noted that Routh was one of the first interviews he conducted for the March 2023 piece.
DONALD TRUMP SAFE AFTER SHOTS FIRED OUTSIDE PALM BEACH GOLF CLUB
"Mr. Routh, who had spent some time in Ukraine trying to raise support for the war, was seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. And so the former Afghan soldier reckoned Mr. Routh could get him to the Ukrainian front. (Anything, even war, was better than the conditions in Iran for Afghans after the Taliban retook Kabul in August of 2021.)," the essay explained.
Routh told the reporter that while he was eager to rally support and volunteers to fight on behalf of Ukraine, he did not fight in Ukraine citing his age and his lack of military experience. Routh is 58 years old as of 2024.
Court sketch depicting Routh in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Lothar Speer)
"In my opinion everyone should be there supporting the Ukrainians," he told the reporter.
Routh told the New York Times last March that he had built a list hundreds of names long of Afghans living in the Middle East whom he planned to recruit and help transport to Ukraine.
The interview was "brief" and conducted ahead of Routh saying he had lined up a two-hour meeting with members of Congress regarding Ukraine.
TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
The reporter noted in his essay it’s unclear if Routh ever had the meeting, and that the discussion left him thinking Routh "was in way over his head."
"He talked of buying off corrupt officials, forging passports and doing whatever it took to get his Afghan cadre to Ukraine, but he had no real way to accomplish his goals. At one point he mentioned arranging a U.S. military transport flight from Iraq to Poland with Afghan refugees willing to fight," Gibbons-Neff wrote.
The Trump International Golf Club on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
"I shook my head. It sounded ridiculous, but the tone in Mr. Routh’s voice said otherwise. He was going to back Ukraine’s war effort, no matter what."
The reporter said that Routh "fell off the map" following the publication last year, "until Sunday."
Routh headed to federal court Monday morning, where he was seen smiling and laughing before his first court appearance.
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He faces charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Authorities said he could be hit with additional charges.
Trump has since blamed Democratic rhetoric promoted by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the attempt on his life. Trump survived another assassination attempt in July, when a gunman opened fire on a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and hit Trump in the ear.
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