5 things to know about Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in 2nd Trump assassination attempt

4. Ryan Routh previously did multiple interviews with mainstream media

Routh previously did interviews with mainstream media, including CBS News and The New York Times.

In his interview with The New York Times in 2023, the publication noted that “he spoke with the self-assuredness of a seasoned diplomat who thought his plans to support Ukraine’s war effort were sure to succeed.”

At the time of the interview, he said he was in Washington, D.C., to lobby the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission, to get more support for Ukraine.

He also noted that he was seeking recruits for Ukraine from among Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban. He expressed a plan to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, The New York Times said.

“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he told the publication.