The US Secret Service promptly discovered an assassination plot against Donald Trump, while he was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on September 15. "Everything was beautiful, a great place to be, and all of a sudden we heard gunshots in the air, I guess maybe four or five, and it sounded like bullets. But the Secret Service knew right away it was bullets," the Guardian quoted Trump as saying on September 16. In his first public appearance since the attempted assassination on the golf course, Mr. Trump thanked the Secret Service, saying that as soon as he heard the gunshots, “we got in the car, and we moved pretty fast. I was with an agent, and he did a great job. Everybody did a great job,” Mr. Trump recalled. Mr. Trump added that the shots came from an agent firing a gun into the barrel of a gun that was protruding from a bush on the golf course. “The guy didn’t get a shot off,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the suspect. Mr. Trump’s account largely matched what the US government has said publicly. Mr. Ronald Rowe Jr., acting director of the US Secret Service, previously said that suspect Ryan Wesley Routh did not fire any shots, but that an agent opened fire after spotting the barrel of a rifle sticking out of a fence on the golf course. “The suspect did not fire any shots at our agents. When the shots were heard, the former President’s security team immediately evacuated him to a safe location,” Rowe said. According to Rowe, phone records show that suspect Routh had been staying near the golf course for about 12 hours and had food with him before being discovered by the Secret Service. In addition, Mr. Trump also praised the citizen who took a photo of the suspect’s license plate, helping the authorities track the car. “That person did an extraordinary job,” the former US President emphasized. Suspect Routh (58 years old) appeared in court in West Palm Beach on September 16, and was charged with two crimes: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. The subject may also face other charges. It is worth noting that Routh has made small financial donations to Democratic candidates in recent years, but the subject admitted to voting for Mr. Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The incident that happened on September 15 was the second time in the past two months that Mr. Trump's life was threatened. Previously, on July 13, Mr. Trump was injured in the ear after a subject fired multiple shots while he was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The suspect was later shot by the US Secret Service. The incident led to fierce criticism of the Secret Service for its handling of security during the campaign.

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