Jury selection began on Monday, September 8, 2025, in Fort Pierce, Florida, for the federal trial of Ryan Wesley Routh, the 59-year-old North Carolina man accused of plotting to assassinate the then presidential candidate Donald Trump, during a 2024 golf outing in West Palm Beach.
The proceedings are being overseen by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who has set aside four weeks for the case though attorneys expect it may conclude sooner.
About 180 potential jurors will be questioned over the first three days before 12 jurors and four alternates are chosen.
Opening statements are scheduled for Thursday, September 11.
Routh, who has insisted on representing himself, will conduct his own defense with standby counsel appointed by the court.
In July, Judge Cannon granted his request but placed strict conditions on his courtroom behavior, warning against disruptions, inappropriate attire or attempts to move freely within the courtroom.
The charges against him stem from September 15, 2024, when Trump was playing at his golf club in West Palm Beach.
Prosecutors said a Secret Service agent discovered Routh concealed in bushes some 300 to 500 yards from the course.
He allegedly aimed an SKS-style semiautomatic rifle with a scope and extended magazine at the agent, who then fired at him.
Routh fled without firing a shot and was later arrested along Interstate 95.
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Investigators recovered the rifle, along with documents tracking Trump’s public appearances and a handwritten note allegedly admitting to an assassination attempt.
A federal grand jury indicted Routh on September 24, 2024, on counts including attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, assault on a federal officer, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, unlawful possession as a convicted felon and tampering with a firearm serial number.
On December 18, 2024, Florida prosecutors added state charges of attempted felony murder, citing a car crash during his escape that injured a six-year-old girl.
The trial comes less than a year after the July 13, 2024, shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed Trump’s ear, one spectator was killed and several others were wounded.
Both incidents have fueled national concern over political violence and placed the U.S. Secret Service under renewed scrutiny.
If convicted, Routh faces a potential life sentence.