Donald Trump has described being grabbed by Secret Service agents after “four or five” gunshots were heard during an apparent assassination attempt while he played golf.
The Republican presidential nominee described the events of Sunday afternoon at his Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in Florida as “quite something” adding “but it all worked out well”.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is facing federal gun charges after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle poking through the bushes and opened fire on the suspect.
The Secret Service confirmed that the only shots fired in the incident were by its agent.
Speaking as part of a social media event hosted by X, Mr Trump said: “I was playing golf with some of my friends on a Sunday morning and very peaceful, very beautiful weather… and all of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five, and it sounded like bullets.
“The Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me… everybody just got into the [golf] carts, and we moved along.”
Praising the Secret Service for doing an “excellent job” he added: “There was no question that we were off that course.
“I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, [to] get out of [there].”
Mr Trump described the suspect as a “very dangerous person” who he hopes spends “a long time” behind bars.
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The former president said the apparent attempt on his life was a “much better result” than the first assassination attempt at a rally in July, as no bystanders were wounded or killed.
“That was some crazy day, and yesterday you had another one with a different result, actually a much better result,” he said.
Trump’s golf round wasn’t meant to happen
Earlier on Monday, interim director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe Jr, explained that Mr Trump playing golf was an “off the record movement” and he “wasn’t supposed to have gone there” so agents did not have time to search the entire golf course.
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0:45
Secret Service ‘needs more help’
Responding to calls for the Secret Service to heighten Mr Trump’s security, Mr Rowe said that he had spoken to the president and told him Mr Trump was “aware that he has the highest levels of protection” from the agency.
In what was described by the White House as a “cordial conversation” Mr Biden also spoke with Mr Trump.
“He was very nice, that he called up to make sure that I was OK,” Mr Trump told cryptocurrency personality Farokh Sarmad, who was hosting the interview on X.
Image: Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe Jr. Pic: Reuters
The president also asked for Mr Trump’s input over whether he “needs more people on [his] detail”.
Authorities so far do not believe that Routh was acting with anyone else, but say he had an active online presence and are compiling details of the subject’s movements in weeks before his arrest.
A man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration has been returned to the US to face criminal charges.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Tennessee with conspiring to transport illegal immigrants into the US, attorney general Pam Bondi said on Friday.
Court records have shown the indictment was filed on 21 May, more than two months after he was deported from the US under a controversial 18th-century wartime law.
Image: US attorney general Pam Bondi, alongside her deputy Todd Blanche, outlined the charges at a news conference. Pic: AP
In a statement, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer Andrew Rossman said it would now be up to the US judicial system to ensure he received due process.
“Today’s action proves what we’ve known all along – that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,” he said.
Salvadoran Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported from Maryland despite an immigration judge’s 2019 order granting him protection after finding he was likely to be persecuted by local gangs if he was returned to his native country.
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia worked with at least five co-conspirators to bring immigrants to the US illegally and transport them from the border to other destinations in the country.
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On Friday, Ms Bondi outlined the charges at a news conference, saying: “The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring.
“He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found – smuggling people throughout our country… MS-13 [international criminal gang] members, violent gang terrorist organisation members… throughout our country.
“He will be prosecuted in our country, sentenced in our country if convicted and then returned after completion of his sentence.”
Ms Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia to the US after American officials presented his government with an arrest warrant.
Image: Chris Van Hollen (R) speaks to Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: Press Office Senator Van Hollen/AP
Democrat senator Chris Van Hollen travelled to El Salvador in April to meet Abrego Garcia, arguing his constitutional rights to due process were being ignored.
Critics of Donald Trump have pointed to the deportation of Abrego Garcia as an example of the excesses of the Republican president’s aggressive immigration policies.
US District Judge Paula Xinis has opened a probe into what, if anything, Mr Trump’s administration has done to secure his return, after his lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information.
Image: Jennifer Vasquez Sura (R) filed a legal complaint over the deportation of her husband. Pic: AP
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Officials responded by alleging that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang – something his lawyers have strongly denied.
In a separate statement, Pam Bondi also attacked what she called the “Fake News Media” and repeated the – yet unproven – allegations against Abrego Garcia.
“The Justice Department’s Grand Jury Indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools.
“Abrego Garcia was never an innocent ‘Maryland Man’- Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker who has spent his entire life abusing innocent people, especially women and the most vulnerable.”
Senior White House officials will meet with a Chinese delegation in London on Monday for the next round of trade talks, US President Donald Trump has said.
The meeting comes after a phone call between Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the US president said was “very positive” – lasting about an hour and a half.
Speaking to reporters on Friday from Air Force One, the president added that it was a “good talk”, describing the deal as “complicated”, but one that “will bring us a lot of money”.
He also said: “I get along well with Xi and China.”
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0:54
US and China reach agreement on tariffs
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said the upcoming London meeting “should go very well” and added that treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and trade representative Jamieson Greer would represent the US at the talks.
It is unclear who will represent China.
The two countries are at an impasse over tariffs and a dispute involving critical rare earth mineral exports, in which China remains the dominant producer.
On 12 May, China and the US struck a 90-day deal in Geneva to pause retaliatory tariffs placed on each other since Mr Trump was inaugurated in January.
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The US president said the move was part of a “total reset” in relations.
The agreement prompted a global surge in stock markets and US indexes that were in, or approaching, bear market levels.
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3:44
US and China end trade war
The temporary deal saw the US reduce its 145% tariff to 30% on Chinese goods.
China also agreed to reduce its 125% retaliatory tariffs to 10% on US goods.
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The Chinese foreign ministry said the US president initiated the call, and they had asked him to “remove the negative measures” in place against China.
It also said that Mr Trump said “the US loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America”.
This is despite his administration previously saying it will “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US.
Since Mr Trump’s re-election, the president has frequently issued threats of punitive trade measures against US partners, only to backtrack at the last minute.
Israel has issued a fresh warning to civilians in northern Gaza, saying its military is about to carry out intensive operations there.
It comes after Israel said rockets were fired from the area.
Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip have marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays, amid little hope the conflict will end any time soon.
Much of Gaza lies in ruins, with men and children forced to hold the traditional Eid al Adha prayers in the open air, and as food supplies dwindle.
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8:49
UN: 500,000 are food insecure in Gaza
Food and aid were blocked from entering the Palestinian territory for more than two months, but a trickle of supplies has been allowed in over the last few weeks.
The UN said it cannot distribute much of the aid, due to the risk of looters and restrictions on movement.
“This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,” said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis.
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“There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses… The conditions are very, very harsh.”
The Islamic holiday begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia.
It is the second year Muslims in Gaza have been unable to travel to the country to perform the traditional pilgrimage.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages, with a third of them believed to be alive. The rest have been released in ceasefire agreements, with forces rescuing eight living hostages from Gaza and recovering dozens of bodies.
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0:42
Situation in Gaza ‘utterly intolerable’
Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its military campaign, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians or combatants in its figures.
Around 90% of the population of two million has been displaced.