A sketch depicting court proceedings during the Ryan Routh trial in Fort Pierce, Florida on September 19, 2025. Ryan Routh is accused of an attempted assassination on President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club in 2024. (Lothar Speer)
This part was critical for the prosecution to convict Routh on the first and most serious criminal count: Attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
In order to secure a conviction on that charge, prosecutors must prove to jurors two things: First, that a defendant had the intent to carry out the crime, and second, that the defendant had taken "substantial steps" to do so.
During closing arguments, federal prosecutors stressed that it should not be difficult for jurors to conclude that they'd met that bar.
"This was not a publicity stunt," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Browne told the jury. "The evidence has shown one thing and one thing only — the defendant wanted Donald Trump dead."
There is "no doubt, no reasonable doubt, no doubt whatsoever that it was this man," Browne said, stopping to point to Routh, "who was hiding" in the sniper's nest for what they said was roughly 10 hours, beginning around 4 a.m.
PROSECUTORS TO WRAP TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT CASE AS DEFENSE READIES WITNESSES
Ryan Routh is seen in May, 2022 holding a banner stating 'World Help Us' during a demonstration in in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Artem Gvozdkov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) (Global Images Ukraine via Getty)
A total of 38 witnesses testified for the prosecution before it rested its arguments Friday.
A box delivered months earlier to Samuel and Lazaro Plata — brothers from North Carolina — contained pipes, bullets, wires, and a 12-page manifesto titled "Dear World." In it, Routh allegedly offered $150,000 to anyone willing to "complete the job." After a series of court rulings, prosecutors were permitted to introduce only the first three lines of the letter.
FBI digital evidence showed web searches, flight-tracking activity, texts about Trump’s rallies and plane movements, license-plate reader records of Routh’s vehicle (a black Nissan Xterra) and other surveillance tying him to Palm Beach County around the same time of the assassination attempt.
Law enforcement testimony described "sniper tradecraft" involving a hideout near the 6th hole on the golf course, steel plates for ballistic protection, concealment, fences used for support of weaponry and long-distance shooting lanes on the 6th and 7th holes.
Routh, who represented himself in the case, did not introduce any evidence that was deemed to be admissible in court.
He rested his own defense after just several hours Monday, and after questioning just three witness — two of whom were friends and colleagues, who acknowledged during cross-examination that they had not seen or spoken to Routh in years.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ryan-routh-found-guilty-all-charges-trump-assassination-attempt-trial