Trump started Sunday telling the world he hated Taylor Swift. Then the day spiralled into chaos

Donald Trump and his golf partner were approaching the green on the fifth hole of the former president’s expansive Florida course when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop”, and Secret Service agents pounced.

Within seconds, they were on top of the former president, firing at an AK-47-style rifle barrel that was peeking through shrubbery about 400 metres away.

Trump playing golf in Florida earlier this year and Steven Witkoff (inset).Credit: AP, Bloomberg

The call to local police came through, “shots fired”, about 1.30pm (Florida time), and officers on the ground at Trump International Golf Club immediately sealed off the course, which was already partially shut down as Trump and big-time investor Steve Witkoff walked between holes five and six.

The gunman sprinted away, jumping into a black Nissan SUV.

In his rush, he left behind the gun, two backpacks, one containing a ceramic tile, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera. A bystander saw him running out of the bushes and managed to snap a photo of the SUV.

“Our real-time crime centre put it out to the licence plate readers, and we were able to get a hit on that vehicle on the [Interstate] 95 as it was headed into Martin County,” Palm Beach county sheriff Ric Bradshaw later said.

“We got a hold of Martin County Sheriff’s Office, alerted them, and they spotted the vehicle and pulled it over, and detained the guy.

“[We flew the witness] up there, and he identified [the man] as the person that he saw running out of the bushes that jumped into the car.”

Sunday had meant to be a day of relative rest for Trump, a rare breather this deep into a presidential campaign. Aside from sounding off on social media, golf was on the agenda.

The day in the political world opened with Trump assailing a pop star on social media who had endorsed Kamala Harris – “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” – complaining about the post office and hitting the links. Running mate J.D. Vance riffed on TV about that thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory concerning immigrants and pets, refusing to disown it. Democrats were apoplectic.

The main entrance of Trump International Golf Club.Credit: AP

All that was standard fare for the most tumultuous US presidential campaign in anyone’s memory. But that subject abruptly changed after the golfing incident and this election was thrust ever deeper into unprecedented territory.

As per protocol, the Secret Service had stationed an agent one or two holes ahead of the former president while he was playing the course, which takes up a huge parcel of land near Palm Beach International Airport at West Palm Beach, south-east of Martin County.

It was that agent, standing ahead of the former president, who spotted the rifle at the perimeter of the course on Sunday.

Other Secret Service agents immediately used their bodies to shield Trump and moved him to the golf course’s clubhouse, where he remained until he went back to Mar-a-Lago about 15 minutes away, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorised to discuss it publicly and described it on condition of anonymity.

Sheriff vehicles near Trump International golf club.Credit: AP

About an hour later, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office were investigating an unspecified “protective incident involving former President Donald Trump”, adding he was safe.

The meaning was highly unclear. It could have been an unrelated shooting or disturbance near Trump, for all the country knew at first. “There were about 20 or more cop cars flying from nearby streets,” said Max Egusquiza, of Palm Beach, describing the emergency response he witnessed.

The Trump campaign issued a statement saying “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity.” Again, no word whether he was the intended target.

But it soon became known that the Secret Service had fired shots. And about an hour after that happened, Donald J. Trump Jr posted on X that an AK-style rifle was discovered in the bushes, “per local law enforcement”.

All of that was finally followed by an FBI statement saying it is investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination of former president Trump”.

Trump took to social media to announce: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiralling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, dealing with the second apparent assassination attempt on Trump in two months, rolled out investigative teams, crisis response team members, bomb technicians and evidence response team members to look into the shooting.

Routh frequently posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a website where he sought to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv to join the fight against the Russian invasion.

His posts suggest he had soured on Trump in recent years.

Bradshaw said if Trump were the sitting rather than the former president, the entire golf course would have been surrounded instead of Secret Service agents covering just part of it.

“So I would imagine that the next time he comes at a golf course, there will probably be … more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done,” Bradshaw said.

“Their agent did a fantastic job.”

Trump’s security detail was already boosted after the previous assassination attempt on the former president on July 13 during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He has enhanced on-the-ground intelligence at rallies and has to address his supporters from behind a screen.

With AP

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