Just two months after a shooter nearly killed Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania, a second assassination attempt Sunday on the former president further jolted a campaign that has already seen unprecedented twists and turns.
So far, the political impact is unclear, in contrast with the first attempt, which sparked an outpouring of reactions from lawmakers around the world and the business community while prompting some top observers to predict a Trump victory in November.
“My ‘controversial’ take on the gunshots near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach today: We need to wait for the facts to be determined before reacting,” GOP polling expert Frank Luntz posted on X.
The latest incident happened while Trump was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach, Fla., with Steve Witkoff, a friend and top donor.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent who was performing a security sweep a few holes ahead spotted a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of a fence and opened fire on the suspect. Trump was about 300-500 yards from the incident.
A witness saw a man flee the scene and took a picture of his car, which Bradshaw described as a black Nissan. With that information, authorities tracked down the vehicle on Interstate 95, where the Martin County Sheriff’s Office arrested him.
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder told reporters that the suspect was “relatively calm” when detained. “He was not displaying a lot of emotions. Never asked, ‘What is this about?’”
Bradshaw said the witness was taken to Martin County and identified the suspect, who was later revealed to be Ryan Wesley Routh. An AK-47-style rifle, a backpack, and a Go-Pro camera were found at a fence outside Trump’s golf club.
The Secret Service said Trump is safe, and the FBI announced it is investigating the incident as an assassination attempt.
Trump’s Secret Service protection
Because Trump is not a sitting president, Bradshaw said his security was more limited, though he suggested it would be ramped up further. After the shooting in Pennsylvania, it was beefed up.
“If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. But because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible,” he explained at the press briefing. “So, I would imagine that the next time he comes to the golf course, there’ll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.”
Meanwhile, there are less than two months before Election Day, and polls remain tight. That’s despite a topsy turvy race. A week after the first assassination attempt on Trump, President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly secured the Democratic Party’s support, picked running mate Tim Walz, and raised more than $500 million.
Last week, the first and only debate between Trump and Harris took place, with Harris widely regarded as the winner.
Markets and the campaign
Financial markets have been volatile as they followed all the wild swings in the campaign. After Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump in June, the “Trump trade” saw the dollar and crypto rally while U.S. bonds fell.
The first assassination attempt and Trump’s defiant reaction to it fueled that trade further. In fact, hours after the shooting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his support for Trump. The tech billionaire has since helped start a pro-Trump super PAC and even interviewed him on his X social media platform.
But Harris’s elevation to the top of the ticket sparked a wave of enthusiasm among Democrats who pulled even with Trump in the polls, unwinding the Trump trade.
On Sunday evening, U.S. stock futures were little changed. The S&P 500 was flat, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq pointed 0.1% lower. Bitcoin dipped 0.66% to $59,441, and Brent crude futures rose 0.34% to $71.85 a barrel.
