From ‘hero’ to ‘Delusional’ rebel: The second Trump ‘assassin’

It isn’t any stroke of genius that former United States president, Donald Trump is still alive after two assassination attempts were made on the Republican candidate in under 3 months.

If anything, the American billionaire/politician should have been old news by now if not thanks to chance and good luck.

In a tale that blurs the line between idealism and delusion, Ryan Wesley Routh’s journey from local hero to a man suspected of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump exposes a complex figure torn between his passion for global causes and his own deteriorating grasp on reality.

Routh, once hailed for his bravery after confronting a rapist in 1991, eventually descended into a series of legal troubles and grandiose, unfulfilled promises.

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Describing himself as a globe-trotting freedom fighter on social media, Routh was deeply invested in supporting Ukraine against Russia. His online persona painted a picture of a committed, if somewhat eccentric, figure, imploring global leaders to take bolder action. But as interviews and official comments reveal, many of Routh’s offers, such as recruiting Afghan fighters for Ukraine, were deemed far-fetched and “delusional” by those he sought to help.

His online posts reflected a dramatic shift from supporting Trump in 2016 to harshly criticizing him in later years. Routh’s political evolution took him from donating to Democratic campaigns to finally being arrested for allegedly planning an attack on Trump.

Through the lens of Routh’s fractured journey, what emerges is not just a suspect in an assassination plot, but a man driven by idealism—albeit clouded by grandiosity and an escalating disconnection from reality.

Despite his earlier contributions, such as aiding Hawaii’s homeless through his tiny homes initiative, Routh’s efforts on the international stage remained largely unacknowledged, leading him further down a dangerous path of frustration and perceived abandonment.

Now, in the wake of his arrest, the story of Ryan Wesley Routh serves as a stark reminder of the fragile line between conviction and obsession, leaving many to wonder how a local hero fell so far.