Former President Trump's golfing buddy responded to the second assassination attempt on the 2024 Republican candidate on “Hannity” on Monday.
New York real estate investor Steve Witkoff told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he was golfing with Trump on Sunday afternoon when shots rang out and the former president was evacuated from his West Palm Beach golf course.
FBI agents are seen at the crime scene outside Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, following a shooting at former President Donald Trump's golf course on Sept. 15, 2024. The Trump campaign said Sunday that “gunshots were heard nearby,” but added that the Republican presidential nominee was safe. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
“Yesterday was a beautiful day. I'm so happy to have been there yesterday. Sean, the reason I feel happy is because I got to see my dear friend go about his normal life, a life that has seen two assassination attempts in the last 60 days, and has been slandered and falsely accused since leaving office. [and] I was harassed,” Witkoff said.
“Yesterday, he was on a beautiful day just trying to rest and relax like all of us, when a man with an assault rifle tried to kill him. It was horrible, but I got to see a man who was calm, brave, and cared about the safety of his friends above his own life. Yesterday, he was an inspiration to all who were around him. I wish the whole country could have witnessed what happened yesterday so we could have seen a true leader.”
The suspect in the assassination attempt is a 58-year-old man. Ryan Wesley Routhwas charged Monday with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Ryan Routh is accused of pointing an AK-47 at former President Donald Trump while he was playing golf at a West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course on Sunday. This is being investigated as a second assassination attempt against Trump. (Source: Fox News Digital)
A Secret Service advance officer spotted what appeared to be a rifle sticking out of trees near Trump's golf course and opened fire, causing Routh to flee.
He fled the scene before being stopped and detained by local police approximately 45 minutes later. According to the criminal complaint Cell phone records showed Routh was near a tree on the golf course for approximately 12 hours, from 2 a.m. to 1:31 p.m., the Department of Justice said in a statement.
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According to the criminal complaint, investigators found a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a bag containing food near the wooded area where Routh fled.
A photo of evidence found on the fence of former President Donald Trump's golf course was released during a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024, following the second assassination attempt on the president. (Kandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
Witkoff said that as a gun owner, he immediately recognized that he had heard gunshots. “The Secret Service was extraordinary. My guess is that the president was secured. After the first shot, they were maybe five yards away from the president, but after the second shot, they definitely had the president secured. So by the time the fourth shot rang out, the president was already on his way with his unit,” he explained.
“It was like they'd practiced it 500 times. It was really amazing to watch them. They were heroic because their lives were on the line.”
Ronald Rouse Jr., acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, told reporters on Monday that Rouse did not have visibility of Trump and that no shots were fired.
Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. provided media with an update on the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, Monday, September 16, 2024. (Mega from Fox News Digital)
“Following reports of gunfire, former Presidential Security Guard immediately evacuated the President to a safe location. Secret Service escort methods were effective yesterday. Former Presidential Security Guard devices allowed for early identification of the threat, leading to the safe evacuation. Increased assets were deployed yesterday at President Biden's direction,” Rowe said.
He also praised the men and women of the Secret Service for rising to the occasion in an “unprecedented and highly dynamic threat environment.”
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Rowe also said the Secret Service was moving to add assets to the “already heightened security” of 2024 Republican candidates following the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania in July.
Former President Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Witkoff told Hannity that he was grateful that his “dear friend” was not injured or killed after the incident.
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“I feel a little bit of love for my dear friend, and I tell myself thank God he wasn't hurt or killed, and thank God nobody else, by the way, was there – civilians, too, including the staff in his office, people who care about him as much as I do, his two other friends. So it could have been really serious, but it wasn't,” he said. “And I'm thankful to all the agents and the team that stopped it.”
