Trump recalls the moment he was kicked off the golf course

Former President Donald Trump has recalled hearing gunshots as Secret Service agents thwarted an assassination attempt on him at his golf club in Florida, and praised the agency for doing a “great job” of keeping him safe.

President Trump elaborated on the incident on Twitter on Sunday, when he hosted a cryptocurrency event called X.

“I was playing golf with some friends… it was very peaceful, very beautiful weather,” Trump recalled. “All of a sudden we heard gunshots in the air. It must have been four or five shots. It sounded like bullets. But what do I know about that?”

“The Secret Service did a great job, they put that guy in jail, and I hope he’s there for a long time,” Trump said early in the conversation. “He’s a dangerous guy. He’s a very, very dangerous guy.”

“I just wanted to make that last putt,” he joked before being forced off the course.

The FBI said a Secret Service agent shot a man hiding in the bushes around Trump’s club in West Palm Beach, Florida, about 500 yards from where the former president was playing. The agent reported seeing the barrel of an AK-style weapon sticking out of the greenery.

The suspect, identified as 58-year-old Ryan Routh, fled the scene without firing a shot. He was later arrested in a neighboring county. He was subsequently charged in federal court with two counts: possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Officials said Monday that the man had never seen the former president and praised the Secret Service’s protocols for keeping him safe. But questions remain about how the man was able to get close enough to threaten Trump after the Republican presidential nominee survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, two months ago.

Trump said he spoke by phone with President Joe Biden on Monday, describing Biden as “very nice.” Trump added that he thought he needed more security.

But during the cryptocurrency incident, the former president once again blamed the Democrats for the incident that threatened his life.

“There’s a lot of rhetoric out there, and a lot of people when they talk about ‘threats to democracy,’ they think of the Democratic Party,” Trump said, referencing the left’s argument that Trump’s candidacy is dangerous to the country.

Earlier in the day, the former president told Fox News that he was “being shot at” by left-wing rhetoric. He made no mention of Biden’s relentless attacks on his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, during the campaign.