The Trump Shooter's Book Points To the Proxy War in Ukraine Being the Motivation.
Ryan Routh's book strongly suggests he tired to kill the former president over the war in Ukraine.
If you pay attention to American news I am sure you have seen that there was a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump. An armed man attempted to shoot at Trump while he was at his golf course. Authorities detained an armed man, Ryan Routh from Hawaii who was hiding in the Bushes with an AK-47 near the course.
The media has extensively covered this story but has mostly ignored Routh’s involvement and strong support for the proxy war in Ukraine. The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal reported that Routh went to Ukraine as a volunteer in 2022. When he was denied entry into the army he stayed in Ukraine to recruit people to join Ukraine’s “Georgian Legion”, a paramilitary consisting of foreign volunteers in Ukraine. In the article, Blumenthal dug up a New York Times report that claimed Routh tried to bring volunteers “ilegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine”.
Routh’s Facebook and X accounts where he voiced strong support for the proxy war in Ukraine have unfortunately been removed. Luckily his book entitled “Ukraine's Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment, and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the End of Humanity” is still available on Amazon.
I was able to obtain an online copy of this book and read it in full. The book reveals that his main motivating force was the war in Ukraine and his hawkish attitude towards Russia and that this is what likely motivated the assassination attempt. In this article, I will cover the highlights of the book and how they are relevant to his motivation.
Ryan Routh’s Volunteering in Ukraine.
The aforementioned book written by Ryan Routh is often incoherent and contradictory but the one consistent theme displayed is that he really supports the proxy war in Ukraine and despises Russia.
He spends much of the book lambasting Ukranians for not welcoming his presence as a liberator while he was in Ukraine. Despite the fact that he does not speak Ukrainian and has no military experience he laments the fact that he was not welcomed into the Ukrainian army saying:
I have witnessed raised voice arguments between legion office staff and new volunteers from foreign countries in the first few seconds of interacting and a parting of ways in a matter of moments. Volunteer fighters thinking that “I just quit my job at home, sold everything, and paid to come and die for you and your country and you will yell at me in the first few seconds of my arrival?
He also lambasted the fact that foreign fighters like himself were often told to go home by the Ukrainian Military saying:
If you call the legion office in Kyiv and do not have major combat experience they tell you to “GO HOME”. One would somewhat assume that volunteers coming to help defend a nation at war would be greeted with cooperation and support.
Routh complained that the majority of foreign volunteers in Ukraine felt they were not wanted there saying:
If foreign fighters and volunteers were surveyed I would estimate that 75- 90 percent eventually realized or felt that they were not wanted, needed or respected.
Routh also complained about the fact that regular Ukrainian citizens did not, in his words “roll out the red carpet for foreign fighters and volunteers” or “celebrate their sacrifice and help.” He complained about the fact that Ukrainian citizens did not thank him when he was walking on the sidewalk saying:
The mere act of passing another on the sidewalk is met with skepticism and questioning eyes. A cheerful hello or any greeting is rebuffed.
He also complained that foreign volunteers were not honored as heroes by the Ukrainian media saying:
I had much exposure to the media in 5 months, but it seemed that stories of foreign fighters and foreigners dying were excluded from all forms of Ukrainian media.
At one point in the book, he angrily tells the story of a Ukrainian cashier who asked him what he was doing there in the first place saying:
On one occasion in Mykolaiv, while I was shopping for drone parts, the lady behind the counter, who spoke perfect English, asked “Why are you here?” My response and sales pitch to her are irrelevant but the mere idea that people wonder why you would come and support another country is befuddling.
Routh literally wanted to fight to the last Ukrainian.
Routh also goes on multiple screeds throughout the book-sounding almost like a parody of a supporter of the proxy war in Ukraine- about how Ukraine needs to draft more people and more Ukrainians need to give their lives for the war.
Multiple times in the book, he calls on Ukraine to implement the draft and force more Ukrainians to their death saying:
At some point Ukraine will have to abandon the kinder, gentler , softer form of democracy that calls every citizen to do only what they wish and revert back to old necessary tricks that match the Russian offensive and employ the old Military Draft.
and
Ukraine must charge forward and if it means that they must force their civilians to go to the front lines and throw rocks at the Russians then that is what must happen.
Later in the book he advocated that Zelensky should draft even more people and set up new draft laws saying
Zelenskyy must enact new legislation to install mechanisms for compulsory service in the military.
and
Zelenskyy must establish a compulsory Military Draft to ensure that every able bodied human is mandated to join the Ukrainian army and fight for Ukraine.
In the book, Routh laments the fact that Ukraine cannot draft every last Ukrainian into fighting in the war saying:
Most everyone still thinks like a communist and that it is the government’s problem to fix; but they can’t because they cannot draft civilians into the army.
and
Then the democratic process has granted all of the Ukrainian citizens broad and wide reaching human freedom that we all enjoy in the USA so now the government cannot enact a draft to demand that all of its citizens be forced into the army.
Aside from pushing heavily for the draft he also complains about Ukrainian citizens not excitedly giving their lives for the war. At one point he calls Ukrainians “lazy” for not wanting to fight in the war saying:
And the Ukrainians just like the rest of the lazy world are not going to risk their lives if they do not have to.
He complained that Ukrainian men were leaving the country after the war broke out without fighting saying:
I found it humorous when I arrived in Ukraine and all the countless news stories of buses at the border and every newscaster saying that men were not allowed to leave and implied that they must join the fight. Well, I have seen plenty leave without question and all of those that did not leave are certainly not required to join the military.
He also complained about the fact that Ukrainians did not thank him for wearing a military recruiter t-shirt saying:
I would wear my military recruiting t-shirt everyday and get many baffling looks as to why anyone would be recruiting for the war
Routh spends much of the book promoting the proxy war in Ukraine on the ground of “democracy” but then later complains that a democratic system allows people to avoid fighting in wars saying:
A system of individual freedom and basic human rights affords the luxury to avoid battle and bodily harm.
He laments the fact that “millions of Ukrainians” were not willing to fight in the war saying:
Some claim that Ukraine has millions of men ready to fight but they do not have the guns. I would argue that if millions were lined up to fight that the world would find the required guns to keep them fighting.
He also complains that Ukrainians who have taken back their cities from Russia did not then go to fight to take back other cities saying:
With an expansive country the populations of various cities and areas seem to have reverted back to a life of complacency now that their own city is safe. They seem to show little concern or support a united effort to retake lost land.
Routh takes it even further in one part of the book arguing not only that every Ukrainian should sign up to die fighting Russia but that every single person on earth should as well saying:
This war between good and evil has truly shown the true colors of humanity and democracy and it seems humanity has failed. It is a sad day in the history of our world when only the smallest of fractions of the 7 billion people on the planet respond to aggression and terrorism of a peaceful nation.
Routh does not only want to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian he wants to fight Russia to the last person.
Inside Routh’s “War with Russia”.
In the book, Routh says his main goal is his “war with Russia” and that “nothing else should matter” saying:
My war is with Russia and fighting them in any capacity on whatever ground should be my goal and nothing else should matter.
He says he has lived his entire life with Russia always being a “constant problem” and that his generation failed to push back “Russian aggression” saying:
I have lived my entire life with Russia always behaving as a bad actor and a constant problem in the back of my mind, and now I must pass this burden on to my children as well; what a failure my generation has been. My entire trip to Ukraine was in hopes of helping in the smallest way to push back Russian aggression and I failed miserably.
Routh then shows early signs of his support for assassination attempts claiming Putin should be assassinated saying:
We all ponder as to why our great minds did not simply kill Hitler early on, and now why have we not taken steps to kill Putin at all costs to end this war.
He goes on the call on the Russian people to kill Putin saying:
The swirling question in every chat around the world is to why Putin has not been killed yet. In the USA we have many killed; JFK, MLK, Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, John Lennon, Tupac, Biggie, Jimmy Hoffa; so many that we cannot even remember them all.
Routh also complains that there haven’t been more attempts in Russia on Putin’s life saying:
What has happened to the Russian people that they are brainwashed into totally blind sheep. There was once incident of a Russian man shooting a recruiter because he did not want to die for his country but that is all I am aware of.
Routh also wants Belarussians to assassinate their leader Lukashenko because he is allied with Russia saying:
I likewise spoke to many people from Belarus as to why we have not assassinated Lukashenka and they claim that he hides at his country house surrounded by military.
Routh also called for the U.S. military to intervene in Venezuela and assassinate Maduro and put in Juan Guido saying:
We cannot let the lawful election of Juan Guido go unrecognized and unsupported. If our military must intervene to install law and order for a country, that is what we must do.
Aside from supporting assassinations, Routh showed in the book there is nothing that could go too far in the war against Russia which he calls “a war between free market ingenuity and slumbering communism”.
He says in the book that he would only return to Ukraine if he could join a mission to “inflict major damage” on Russia saying:
I would go to join a defined mission into Russia to inflict major damage
but that he was
done trying to persuade Ukrainians to get involved and pushing them to help foreign volunteers.
Routh advocates for committing terrorist attacks inside Russia saying:
Some may call it terrorism, but as the Russians are terrorist themselves, we must fight fire with fire and use any means necessary to win this war.
Probably the most extreme part of the book is where he advocated for dropping Nuclear bombs on Russia to “end it once and for all” saying:
Why has the world been afraid of Russia for the last 100 years or 300 or 1000 years when we have the power to end it. We must strike first. Sitting and waiting and doing nothing as this tragedy unfold and I am telling you now who will win here-Russia and we are going to sit and allow decades of war grind on without ending it and Russia once and for all.
He complains about the fact that America is “afraid” to use nuclear weapons on Russia and that they should be “prepared to use them” saying:
Nuclear weapons put a quick and decisive end to World War 2, so why are we afraid now.
and
Why do we even have nuclear weapons if we are not prepared to use them?
Routh Desperately wanted Western Support for the War in Ukraine
In the book, Routh laments the fact that his war on Russia failed saying:
I am saddened by my own goals that have disappeared and recalling the moment that I was ready to move and the smallest item was lacking or most insignificant interference that derailed the project and I am left with the what if’s and what could have been
He also states that he wants to “discard” anyone who stands in the way or questions and complains about the war in Ukraine saying:
We must discard and silence those that stand in the way of progress and question and complain.
He also complains that leaders of countries who do not do more for the Ukraine war are “blind and ignorant” saying:
Those that lead countries and cannot recognize this unbound energy and potential and utilize its power are blind and ignorant
The media has reported on the fact that Routh went from a supporter of Trump to a Biden supporter but they do not report that the reason was because of Biden’s support for the proxy war in Ukraine. As he explained in his book:
How can it be that the frail old Joe Biden is the one with the strongest backbone and only one willing to openly suggest that Putin must be removed and openly show financial and supply delivery?
In the book Routh also complains about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and claims he fears America will stop supporting Ukraine saying:
We were able to maintain stability in Afghanistan for 20 years so that the families and kids could live normal lives and then decided to abandon the entire country and turn the entire population into refugees that must relocate to every other country around the globe. My assumption is that is our new policy for Ukraine as well; we have proven that we are good with turning over a country to terrorist and now we must resettle every Ukrainian into a new life in new countries around the globe.
Routh also says he believes that every country in the world should send their army to fight Russia in Ukraine saying:
Every country around the globe should have every single military personnel and asset on the front line of Ukraine proudly and announcing and advertising the fact.
Routh complained that no country around the world had sent their military to fight in Ukraine saying:
So it is World Abandonment- we have allowed every country around the world to abandon Ukraine and hide in fear. It is a shameful world that we live in when we have 190 countries around the globe and not one single country sends its military to join the fight.
He also complains about NATO and EU countries not being more involved in the war in Ukraine saying:
How can any of the Nato and EU countries' leaders sleep at night with their gross dereliction of duty to humanity and the free world.
Routh was also a strong supporter of more American involvement in Ukraine. he claimed it was “selfish” to not send troops to Ukraine saying:
Is the selfish response that our military is just for us and no one else? Will we all stand around while the school yard bully murders a little kid and do nothing to stop it?
He also claimed that because the U.S. did not send troops to Ukraine they were “abandoning” them saying:
The world should also be on notice that when the US says that they will defend you just as we did with Ukraine that it is not true and we will abandon you in a time of crisis.
He also claimed the U.S. needed to change the war from “unwinnable” to “winnable” saying:
We must change this war from Unwinnable to winnable. Ukraine cannot win this war on its current trajectory, it is impossible, and we cannot sit and watch them lose.
Routh also said that he was embarrassed by the “lack of leadership” on Ukraine in America and that he wanted to start there by saying:
As I am from the USA it is only appropriate that I start from my home and move down the list from there. I am personally embarrassed by our lack of leadership in this conflict.
Routh also went after Americans who are opposed to funding and arming the war in Ukraine calling them “lunatics” and “selfish pricks” saying:
Those Americans that think that since we have donated billions of dollars that our moral obligation has been fulfilled are lunatics and selfish pricks.
Finally, he lamented America for withdrawing from Afghanistan and lowering troop levels in Syria saying:
While the US and its allies did amazing work in Afghanistan for 20 years and stabilized the country; it was all thrown away in an instant because the American people failed to understand our importance and mission in Afghanistan.
and
I am unclear the motivation of US presidents to wish to withdraw from countries of conflict so quickly, and is such haste. Our every action should be planned and executed over years to not leave communities and people reeling. How could we abandon the Syrian people and the Syrian free army at a moment’s notice and pack up and leave.
Ryan Routh’s motivation was Ukraine.
After reading his book it is clear Routh’s main political goals were fighting Russia, arming Ukraine, and rallying Western support for the proxy war in Ukraine. Given this fact, it is almost certain that Routh tried to kill Trump over speculation that he will end the war in Ukraine. The irony is Trump likely won’t even end the war in Ukraine, in his first term he sent lethal arms to Ukraine and he approved Republican speaker Mike Jhonson’s passing of a Ukraine aid bill. But the mainstream media has consistently screeched about the idea that Trump might end the war in Ukraine and end NATO. Routh clearly took these reports seriously and given the fact that fighting Russia and supporting Ukraine is his main political goal he tried to kill Trump. Mainstream media loves to look into the ideological histories of shooters to try to blame the alternative media for radicalizing them. This time however, they have been silent because the people who radicalized Ryan Routh were them.
Max Blumenthal & Grayzone are awesome
Not gonna lie, but the fact that he was complaining about the Ukrainian people and military not welcoming him with open arms is pretty funny.
Aside from that though, this is just some unhinged, privileged Westerner who pushes for global US Hegemony and doesn't care how many people die to achieve it.