Ryan Routh questions the first witnesses while his criminal affair approaches his last step

Ryan Routh, the man accused of having tried to assassinate the candidate of the time, Donald Trump, during his Florida golf course last year, said that he would not take the position in his own criminal case on Monday – the strongest sign to date that the defense is preparing to rest his case and launch the trial in his final phase before the deliberation of the jury.

Routh, 59, was represented in the federal criminal trial. He pleaded not guilty of having tried to assassinate a major presidential candidate, to attack a federal officer and possession of a firearm, among other crimes. If he is found guilty, he could risk in life to life.

He previously launched the possibility that he could testify on his own name-a risky strategy that would have given up his protections from the fifth amendment against self-incrimination, and opened him to the counter-examination by federal prosecutors.

Judge Aileen Cannon pressed Routh several times on Monday morning if he had had enough time to consider his decision or want to consult the watch lawyer. He said he was sure. The prosecutors then asked for lunch time to decide if they would call refutation witnesses.

If none is called, the defense should rest within a few hours, by opening the way to the closure of the arguments and deliberations of the jury.

The Trump trial continues with more testimony to the FBI after the rifle called “prepared to shoot”

A sketch representing legal proceedings during the trial of Ryan Routh in Fort Pierce, Florida, September 15, 2025. Ryan Routh is accused of an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in his West Palm Beach golf club in 2024. (Lothar Speer)

Roulth opened his defense on Monday with Michael McClay, a firearm specialist and his only expert witness, followed by the testimony of a family of the family and a former colleague, on Machael McClay.

McClay, an expert in elite shooting and tactics with a long career in the military and the police, confirmed at the start of the interrogation of Routh that he was assigned to testify and did not want to appear in the name of Routh.

Roth spent most of the time questioning McClay on the scope of the operability of the rifle in question, in particular by trying to question the probability that the SKS rifle in question cannot reach a target at 375 meters.

McClay, in response, said that it depended on the skill of the shooter – but confirmed that the rifle was able to reach a target at this distance.

During the counter-examination, the accusation questioned McClay on the probability that the rifle inflicts damage to a person if it had been shot at this distance and reached a planned target. McClay said yes, the person would be injured. Roth asked McClay’s opinion if he thought that a loose sniper would have an exit strategy if their plan failed, to which McClay said: “In all his missions, there was a way to escape.”

FBI telephone extractions, DNA testimony title, Ryan Routh Trial Day 7

A sketch representing legal proceedings during the trial of Ryan Routh in Fort Pierce, Florida, September 18, 2025. Ryan Routh was accused of an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in his West Palm Beach golf club in 2024. (Lothar Speer)

The list of witnesses of Routh was sparse compared to the dozens of witnesses introduced by prosecutors, in particular legal medicine experts, FBI agents and secret service agents during a period of two weeks.

On the other hand, Routh’s list included McClay, the friend of the Atwill Milsun family, and a former colleague, Marshall Hinshaw.

The other witnesses have spoke briefly and did not presented much the new or relevant information, as planned, given their personal links with the accused.

Roth should not present evidence in his own name either.

His submissions prior to the Court were considered inadmissible. Prosecutors said the exhibitions include books written by Routh, handwritten drawings and Eagle Scout prices from his childhood.

Last week, Cannon said that she would keep the exhibitions on the file and give Routh the possibility of contesting the court’s decision, if he chooses to do so.

A sketch representing legal proceedings during the trial of Ryan Routh in Fort Pierce, Florida, September 19, 2025. Ryan Routh was accused of an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in his West Palm Beach golf club in 2024. (Lothar Speer)

Routh’s attempt to defend himself in his own criminal trial, using rare evidence and a thin list of witnesses, contrasts strongly with the accusation, which spent almost two weeks with carefully and extemporaneously his file against Routh to a jury in Fort Pierce, Florida.

In this period, the jurors heard 38 witnesses and examined hundreds of exhibitions – text messages, call newspapers, bank files and mobile phones – connecting Routh to the alleged purchase of firearms and placing it near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in the weeks preceding the assassination attempt.

Prosecutors also presented digital and medico-legal evidence. FBI officials testified last week that Routh’s DNA was found on the scope of the rifle, a glove, an elastic cord and a bag recovered from the “sniper nest” near the sixth hole, where he would have waited at least 12 hours for the arrival of the president.

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Before resting his file on Friday, the latest government’s witness, the Special FBI supervision agent Kimberly McGreevy, traveled the jury through large data on mobile phones, license plates files, surveillance images and other information prosecutors allegedly allegedly at Trump’s movements in the preceding weeks.