OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
4:47 PM – Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Ryan Routh, the man who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course last year, has shifted his approach to legal representation. Unlike most of the trial, where he represented himself, Routh has now requested that the judge appoint an attorney to represent him during sentencing.
The sentencing hearing for Routh, 59, was reportedly delayed from this week to early February after he requested an attorney to represent him during the remainder of his sentencing and appeal phases of the trial, which was ultimately granted.
Back in September, the courtroom spiraled into chaos after jurors found Routh guilty on all counts in relation to his failed attempt to kill a presidential candidate, now-President Trump, among other firearm-related charges.
Following the guilty verdict, Routh even attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen in a chaotic courtroom scene. However, similar to his assassination attempt, Routh was unsuccessful — thanks in part to the pen being a flexible, safety-designed model intended to prevent its use as a weapon.
U.S. marshals eventually intervened, subdued him, and dragged him from the room.
In the same motion requesting appointed counsel, Routh also offered to participate in a prisoner swap for another inmate held “unjustly” in another country and reiterated that an offer still stood for Trump to “take out his frustrations on my face.”
“Just a quarter of an inch further back and we all would not have to deal with all of this mess forwards, but I always fail at everything, par for the course,” Routh stated.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon berated Routh’s comments when making her decision granting him an attorney. Although the judge strongly criticized the defendant’s request, she granted it anyway, explaining that when in doubt, she prefers that any defendant has a lawyer.
Cannon signed off Routh’s wishes following two hearings in July. Criminal defendants have the right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney.
Prosecutors say that Routh spent months planning the assassination, staking out the area repeatedly before positioning himself with an SKS-style semi-automatic rifle hidden in the bushes along the fence line. There, he waited nearly 12 hours for then-presidential candidate Trump to come into view while golfing at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on September 15, 2024.
One U.S. Secret Service agent tasked with protecting Trump while he golfed testified that he spotted Routh — and the barrel of his SKS-style rifle pointed directly at him — before Trump ever came into view. When Routh aimed the weapon at the agent, the agent fired several rounds, causing Routh to abandon the rifle and flee the scene.
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