Members of law enforcement control shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen during the White House Correspondents Dinner, on April 25, 2026, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

Elon Musk said he would attend a rally that Donald Trump is holding on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, the setting of the first assassination attempt on the former president.

In a post late Thursday New York time on his social platform X, the billionaire wrote, “I will be there to support!” in response to the Republican presidential nominee’s post about his return to the site.

I will be there to support! https://t.co/nokR0g3dn1

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2024

Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, has already committed millions to Trump’s third White House bid, with a super political action committee he started spending $71 million mostly on canvassing and field operations to get out the vote.

Trump’s rally at fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, comes exactly one month before Election Day. At a rally there in July, a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear. The gunman killed Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, as he shielded his family, and gravely wounding two others. 

The image of a bloodied Trump standing up after the shooting, fist pumped and mouthing “Fight!” has become one of the most iconic images of the campaign, emblazoned upon T-shirts, vehicles and splashed across social media.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

FBI officers work on the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club, following an apparent assassination attempt on Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, after a gunman was found at the Trump’s golf course, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. on September 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The man accused in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a golf course in Florida left behind a note saying that he intended to kill the former President and kept in his car a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump was to appear, the Justice Department said Monday (September 23, 2024).

The new allegations were included in a detention memo filed ahead of a hearing Monday at which the Justice Department was expected to argue that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh should remain locked up as the case moves forward.

The details are meant to buttress prosecutors’ assertions that Routh is a threat to public safety with a premeditated plan to kill Trump — a plot officials say was thwarted by a Secret Service agent who spotted a rifle poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing.

The note was placed in a box dropped off months earlier at the home of an unidentified person who did not open it until after last Sunday’s arrest. The box also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, building materials, tools, phones and various letters. The person who received the box and contacted law enforcement was not identified in the Justice Department’s detention memo.

One note, addressed “Dear World,” appears to have been premised on the idea that the assassination attempt would be unsuccessful.

“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” the note said, according to prosecutors.

An attorney for Routh didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday morning.

Cellphone records cited by the Justice Department indicate Routh traveled to West Palm Beach from Greensboro in mid-August, and that he was near Trump’s golf club and the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” between August 18 and the day of the apparent attempted assassination.

He was arrested on Sunday afternoon after a Secret Service agent who was scoping the Trump International Golf Club for potential security threats saw a partially obscured man’s face, and the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle, aimed directly at him. The agent fired at Routh, who sped away before being stopped by officials in a neighboring county.

The Secret Service has said Routh did not fire any shots and never had Trump in his line of sight.

The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities who searched his car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.

They also found a list with dates in August, September and October and venues where Trump had appeared or was scheduled to, according to prosecutors. A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.

The detention memo also cites a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump’s approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” for having left the nuclear deal.

Routh is charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina, and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. More serious charges are possible in the weeks ahead.

Flint, United States:

Donald Trump resumed campaigning Tuesday for the first time since a second apparent attempt on his life, boasting “only consequential presidents get shot at” while praising Kamala Harris for making a phone call to check on him. Trump spoke at a town hall meeting before fervent supporters in Flint, a beleaguered industrial city that was once a jewel of the US automotive industry in swing state Michigan, before factories closed due to foreign competition.

Trump drew a link between what the FBI called a foiled assassination bid against him Sunday at his golf course in Florida and his pledge to slap heavy tariffs on imports of cars from Mexico and China.

“And then you wonder why I get shot at, right? You know, only consequential presidents get shot at,” Trump said.

Trump’s election rival Harris, campaigning in another swing state, Pennsylvania, said Tuesday she had reached out to the former president after the thwarted attack.

“I checked on him to see if he was OK. And I told him what I have said publicly — there’s no place for political violence in our country,” Harris said in an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

The White House described it as a “cordial and brief conversation.” Trump said Harris “could not have been nicer.”

Trump has said the would-be shooter was a follower of what he called President Joe Biden’s and Harris’s rhetoric insisting that he is a threat to US democracy.

At the town hall meeting, Trump supporters said the foiled attack made them support him even more.

“I believe that they want to kill Trump so that Trump cannot try to make his second term in office,” said retired autoworker Donald Owen, 71.

‘Zero jobs’

Trump depicted himself at the event as the savior of the US auto industry as it competes with foreign companies.

He insisted: “If a tragedy happens, and we don’t win, there will be zero car jobs, manufacturing jobs, it will all be out of here.”

Trump also defended his convoluted, rambling way of speaking, and then in a tangent on fossil fuel drilling he said, “We have Bagram in Alaska. They say it might be as big, might be bigger than all of Saudi Arabia.”

But Bagram is an air base in Afghanistan. Trump may have confused it with a place in Alaska called the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR.

Meanwhile, Harris used her interview in Pennsylvania to give her first reaction to a row over false stories spread by Trump that Haitian immigrants were eating residents’ cats and dogs in a town in Ohio.

Dozens of bomb threats were made against the community in the town of Springfield after Trump and his running mate JD Vance publicly boosted the fake story, forcing the closure of some schools.

“It’s a crying shame, literally, what’s happening to those families, those children in that community,” Harris said.

‘Hateful’

“It’s got to stop. We’ve got to say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States engaging in that hateful rhetoric,” she added.

On Sunday, Trump was whisked away by the US Secret Service after gunman Ryan Routh was discovered in a hedgerow at his Florida golf course. 

It was the second such close call for the Republican nominee in as many months, after a bullet grazed his ear in a shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania that left one man dead in June.

The dueling visits of Trump in Michigan and Harris in Pennsylvania come as both focus on the half-dozen swing states critical to winning in the election.

A new poll from Suffolk University and USA Today shows Harris with a slight 49-46 percent edge over Trump in Pennsylvania, thanks in large part to major support from women voters.

It confirms a large gender gap in the race, at least in Pennsylvania, with Harris leading with women by 56 percent to 39 percent, and Trump earning male votes by a slimmer 53-41 percent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Elon Musk has deleted a post on his social media platform X in which he said “no one is even trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the wake of an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump while he was playing golf.

Mr. Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on the social media site he bought for $44 billion in 2022, has increasingly embraced conservative ideologies in recent years and endorsed Trump for president.

Also read | Trump blames Biden and Harris ‘rhetoric’ for assassination bids

While he has removed posts in the past, Mr. Musk has also kept up and even doubled down on other such inflammatory comments. Last week, he made a joke about impregnating Taylor Swift after the singer posted an endorsement for Ms. Harris.

Early Monday, after taking down the post about the apparent Trump assassination, the 53-year-old billionaire wrote on the platform: “Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on X.” The original post was in response to DogeDesigner, one of the 700 accounts that Musk follows, who asked: “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” Musk’s reply was quickly condemned by many X users, and “DeportElonMusk” began trending on X on Monday morning.

“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates in response to mr. Musk’s post. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.” The Tesla CEO has previously posted conspiracy theories and feuded with world leaders and politicians. X is currently banned in Brazil amid a dustup between Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.

He’s also received criticism in the past for what critics said were posts encouraging violence.

Last month, for instance, the British government called on Musk to act responsibly after he used X to unleash a barrage of posts that officials said risked inflaming violent unrest gripping the country.

Mr. Musk said when he bought the platform then known as Twitter that protecting free speech — not money — was his motivation because, as he put it, “having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilisation.” Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, noted that Musk has long been trying to “push the boundaries of free speech, in part by engaging in impulsive, unfiltered comments on a range of political topics.”

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts in the spin room, on the day of his debate with Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Donald Trump on Monday (September 16, 2024) blamed his election rival Kamala Harris and U.S. President Joe Biden after he was targeted in a second apparent assassination attempt, saying their “rhetoric” about him endangering democracy is to blame.

Trump’s rapid politicization of Sunday’s incident, in which a man allegedly planned to fire on the Republican while he played golf in Florida, guaranteed that tensions ahead of the presidential election in seven weeks would continue to boil.

Also read | Man suspected in apparent assassination attempt on Trump charged with federal gun crimes

Both Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have denounced the apparent assassination bid.

The suspect, identified by police as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, was arrested soon after being spotted while hiding with an assault-style rifle at the edge of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach. US Secret Service agents opened fire, and he fled before surrendering without a struggle.

On Monday, Routh appeared in court where he was informed he was being charged with illegal firearms possession. He appeared calm and did not speak, other than to say “yes” to questions from the judge.

More charges are expected at a later date, with the FBI probing what it said “appears to be an attempted assassination.”

According to an FBI criminal complaint, Routh seems to have spent nearly 12 hours on the perimeter of the Trump golf course, based on cell phone records.

On July 13, the former President was grazed by a bullet in an attack at a Pennsylvania rally, which also saw a supporter in the crowd killed before the lone gunman was shot dead by return fire.

Trump — who was not hurt in Sunday’s event — told Fox News Digital that rhetoric from Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris “is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country.”

Trump, 78, referred to frequent comments that he poses a “threat to democracy.”

Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have described the former President as a danger over his refusal to concede defeat to Biden in 2020 and his campaign to classify the mob of his supporters that stormed Congress in 2021 as political dissidents.

Trump — whose main election message against Ms. Harris is built on dark warnings about immigrant “invasion” and claims that the United States is a “failing nation” that only he can save — said his opponents “use highly inflammatory language.”

“I can use it too — far better than they can — but I don’t,” he added.

In a later post on his Truth Social network, Trump said “the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse,” before launching into an all-caps attack on immigrants.

– Secret Service scrutiny –

At the White House earlier Monday, Mr. Biden had told reporters “thank God the president is OK.”

But the Secret Service “needs more help,” he said, “and I think Congress should respond to their needs.”

The protective service came under severe criticism after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which the shooter was able to climb onto a nearby roof overlooking the rally.

As a major party candidate and former president, Trump has a sizeable security detail but smaller than that of a sitting president. This meant the bodyguards could not cordon off the entire golf course, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said, explaining how the suspect was able to get to within a few hundred yards of Trump before being intercepted.

The would-be attacker has a lengthy criminal record, according to US media, and was obsessed with the Ukrainian cause. He traveled to Ukraine, claiming he wanted to volunteer and was recruiting foreign fighters to help repel Russia’s invasion.

However, there is no evidence that he ever fought there or was able to join the Ukrainian military. His social media presence indicates a wide variety of political affiliations at home.

Condemning “any form of political violence,” United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed relief Monday “that the former president is safe and that law enforcement acted quickly.”

– Fear of wider violence –

The intensity of threats is rising as the U.S. presidential race enters its final weeks, and polls continue to indicate a tight finish on November 5.

The latest twist follows days of tension in the Ohio town of Springfield as a result of conspiracy theories stoked by Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance about the local Haitian immigrant community.

Schools and other public institutions have been repeatedly shut down there since Thursday after receiving threats.

There are also broader worries that Trump will again refuse to concede if he loses to Harris, stoking a repeat of the violence on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed Congress to try and stop certification of Biden’s victory two months earlier.

Trump used Sunday’s incident to appeal for campaign funds, posting on social media Monday: “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!!!” and “Donate Today!”

A view of the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, where Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in an apparent assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump, is scheduled to appear in court on September 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A man suspected in an apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump was charged Monday (September 16, 2024) with federal gun crimes, making his first court appearance in the final weeks of a White House race already touched by violence.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, faces charges of possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.

Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, where he answered perfunctory questions about his work status and income. Shackled and wearing a blue jumpsuit, he smiled as he spoke with a public defender and reviewed documents ahead of his initial appearance. The lawyer declined to comment after the court appearance.

The episode occurred Sunday (September 15, 2024) afternoon when Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Mr. Trump was playing golf noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.

An agent fired and Routh dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, authorities said. Routh was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighbouring county.

It was the second apparent assassination attempt targeting Mr. Trump in as many months.

On July 13, a bullet grazed Mr. Trump’s ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee.

Elon Musk has deleted a post he wrote on X after the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump on Sunday in Florida. The billionaire had questioned why no one is trying to assassinate President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Responding to a post X that read, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”, Mr Musk wrote: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”

However, his post has now been deleted.

The post had sparked a massive controversy, with one X user writing, “This at the least demands a visit from the FBI and Secret Service.” Another person said they reported the post to X as “coded incitement of violence”.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief is an open supporter of Mr Trump as the latter is set to go head-to-head with Vice President Harris in the upcoming US Presidential elections in November.

Donald Trump’s campaign and law enforcement officials have reported that the Republican presidential candidate is safe after the assassination attempt at his golf course.

The US Secret Service confirmed one or more of its agents “opened fire on a gunman” located near the boundary of Mr Trump’s golf course, and that an “AK-47 style rifle” with a scope was recovered along with a GoPro video camera.

This is the second attempt to assassinate Donald Trump this year, the first was two months ago when he was wounded in the ear after a gunman opened fire during a rally in Pennsylvania.

Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh has been arrested in connection with the latest shooting. He was set up in the bushes near the sixth hole of the Trump International Golf Club, according to law enforcement officials.

A high-powered AK-47-style rifle with a scope and a GoPro camera was recovered at the scene.

New Delhi:

Reacting to the incident of an alleged assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk questioned why is no one trying to assassinate President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Trump was the target of an alleged assassination attempt on Sunday in Florida, the FBI said, with the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign and law enforcement reporting he was safe and unharmed.

The US Secret Service confirmed one or more of its agents “opened fire on a gunman” located near the boundary of Trump’s golf course, and that an “AK-47 style rifle” with a scope was recovered along with a GoPro video camera.

Responding to a post on X which read, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”, Musk wrote: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” 

And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala https://t.co/ANQJj4hNgW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2024

The Tesla and SpaceX chief is an open supporter of Trump as the latter is set to go head-to-head with Vice President Harris in the upcoming US Presidential elections in November.

According to authorities, there is still no confirmation whether the gunman, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, fired a weapon in the direction of the former president but Secret Service agents did fire on the suspect who was hiding in the bushes at the golf course. 

“We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents,” said Rafael Barros, of the Secret Service, as quoted by news agency AFP. 

The FBIsaid it is “investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”

Officials praised the quick action of the Secret Service, an agency which has been under intense scrutiny since its apparent failure to detect and stop a gunman from shooting at Trump in Pennsylvania.

West Palm Beach, United States:

Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt Sunday in Florida, the FBI said, with the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign and law enforcement reporting he was safe and unharmed.

The US Secret Service confirmed one or more of its agents “opened fire on a gunman” located near the boundary of Trump’s golf course, and that an “AK-47 style rifle” with a scope was recovered along with a GoPro video camera.

Amid the confrontation with the Secret Service, the suspect bolted out of the shrubbery he had been hiding in and escaped in a black car. A witness helped police identify the vehicle and authorities tracked it down. 

“We have somebody in custody right now that is a potential suspect,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told a news conference.

Trump had been golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from his Mar-a-Lago residence, when the would-be shooter was spotted in bushes one hole ahead of the former president, Bradshaw said.

“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, while Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris expressed relief her political rival was out of danger.

Trump himself said in a fundraising message on his website: “Fear not! I am safe and well, and no one was hurt. Thank God!”

The unnerving incident appears to mark the second time in as many months that Trump has been the target of an assassination attempt. The former president was wounded in the ear on July 13 as he addressed an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Unsure if shot taken 

Authorities who addressed Sunday’s news conference did not confirm whether a gunman actually fired a weapon in the direction of the former president, but said that shots were fired by the Secret Service.

“We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents,” said Rafael Barros, of the Secret Service.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it is “investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”

Officials praised the quick action of the Secret Service, an agency that has been under intense scrutiny since its apparent failure to detect and stop a gunman from shooting at Trump in Pennsylvania.

Sheriff Bradshaw said Secret Service personnel in Trump’s protective detail spotted “this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engaged that individual, at which time the individual took off.”

He estimated the suspect was set up 300 to 500 yards (275 to 455 meters) away, but “with a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance.”

Sheriff William Snyder of neighbouring Martin County said on CNN that the potential suspect who was stopped and detained by law enforcement had “a relatively calm, flat effect. He was not displaying a lot of emotions.”

‘Relieved’ 

Law enforcement was launching a sweeping investigation but as of Sunday afternoon, there was no indication of the shooter’s motive.

The incident came amid heightened tensions in the knife-edge presidential race and concern for the safety of both candidates.

“There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

“I have directed my team to continue to ensure that the Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president’s continued safety.”

Vice President Harris took to social media to say “I am glad he is safe.”

Several Trump supporters and members of his inner circle, including his running mate J.D. Vance, offered their support and gratitude that tragedy was avoided. 

“I’m glad President Trump is safe,” Vance said on X. “I spoke to him before the news was public and he was, amazingly, in good spirits.”

The Secret Service, tasked with protecting presidents, former presidents and other dignitaries, has faced criticism since the Pennsylvania shooting.

Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the agency, resigned amid the ensuing scrutiny, and at least five agents were placed on administrative leave.

Representative Elise Stefanik, the fourth-ranking US House Republican, thanked law enforcement for their actions Sunday but raised questions about the latest incident.

“We must ask ourselves how an assassin was allowed to get this close to President Trump again,” she said in a statement.

“There continues to be a lack of answers for the horrific assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and we expect there to be a clear explanation of what happened today in Florida.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)