Alleged Would-Be Trump Assassin Said in Book That He Looks Forward to World War III

Ryan Wesley Routh wrote that he hoped to 'be the one that burns down the Kremlin'

Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old man arrested on Sunday for allegedly trying to kill former President Donald Trump, said in a book he published in February 2023 that he looked forward to World War III and hoped he could burn down the Kremlin.

“I do dream of the day that we cross over into Russia and march towards Moscow. That is the part of this third world war that I look forward to. I want to be the one that burns down the Kremlin and all the cruelty that it signifies,” Routh wrote in the book titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War.”

In another part of the book, Routh criticized Trump for pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and said he must share the blame for voting for the former president.

“I must take part of the blame for the retarded child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize,” Routh wrote.

Routh went on to say that Iran could assassinate both Trump and himself. “You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment,” he wrote.

In the book and in social media posts, Routh repeatedly expressed his wish to fight in Ukraine against the Russian military. In 2022, Routh traveled to Ukraine, but he said in an interview with Newsweek Romania that he was too old to fight.

Screenshot of a tweet from Routh’s now-suspended X account (via The Grayzone)

Routh said his “plan B” was to help recruit people from around the world for Ukraine’s foreign legion. In an interview with Semafor in 2023, Routh complained that Ukraine didn’t want to take Afghan soldiers. “Most of the Ukrainian authorities do not want these soldiers,” he said. “I have had partners meeting with [Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense] every week and still have not been able to get them to agree to issue one single visa.”

In a follow-up article published on Sunday after the arrest, Semafor said that when they interviewed Routh, he was the head of a group he started called the International Volunteer Center. The article cited a Ukrainian involved in foreign recruitment and said that Routh was “even by the standards of that frantic moment, a bit over the top.”

But the Ukrainian also said that Routh was authentically involved in the efforts to bring in foreign troops. Since his arrest, Ukraine’s foreign legion has distanced itself from Ruth.

“We would like to clarify that Ryan Wesley Routh has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity,” Ukraine’s International Legion told Euronews.

Routh briefly appeared in a propaganda video from May 2022 for the Azov Brigade, a notorious neo-Nazi unit in the Ukrainian National Guard. In response, the Azov Brigade said the event was a demonstration that anyone could attend. “We would like to officially state that Ryan Wesley Routh has no connection to Azov and has never had any connection to Azov,” the military unit said.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.