Suspected Trump gunman touted potential ‘Taiwan foreign legion’
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Ryan Wesley Routh, the man arrested in Florida in connection with an apparent attempt to shoot Donald Trump, counted among his international projects a proposed “foreign legion" to help defend Taiwan against a potential assault from China. The Taiwan plan echoed Routh’s self-professed efforts to support the defense of Ukraine, in what he described in his LinkedIn profile as a mission to dedicate himself to “any monumental worthy cause to bring about real change in our world." There is no indication that Routh’s Taiwan ambitions ever materialized.
Routh, 58 years old, now faces firearms charges following his arrest on Sunday, when a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle poking through a Florida golf course fence and opened fire, ultimately leading to the suspect’s capture. In a self-published book, social-media posts and interviews, Routh described Taiwan as a vulnerable democracy that deserves stronger support from the U.S.—and especially military aid against China, which claims the self-governed island as its territory. “We should encircle Taiwan with military ships and support with military might," he wrote in the book, published in early 2023.
“If we wait, such as we have done in Ukraine, it will be a 10 minute war and we will all be standing around like fools yet again. We may as well put Taiwan on a silver platter for China." Routh also railed over perceived policy blunders by U.S. leaders, including the 2021 U.S.
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