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Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Thursday in the federal trial of Ryan Routh — accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club in 2024 — after Wednesday’s testimony centered on a gray storage box, a 12-page “Dear World” letter and accounts from longtime acquaintances.
Prosecutors used FBI Special Agent Garett Foo to walk jurors through the gray box recovered in North Carolina, which contained phones, ammunition, an “improvised firing mechanism” and Routh’s alleged handwritten “Dear World” letter.
Per Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling, jurors were shown only the first three sentences of that letter, including: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump … I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
Routh – representing himself – had argued the whole letter should be brought into evidence, but Judge Cannon had only approved those first three lines. Routh argued that if the whole letter didn’t get into evidence, at least include three words from near the end of the letter, “shred his airplane.”
Routh told Cannon there’s “nothing about a golf course” in the letter and that the jury at least needed “some context… this is about shredding his airplane,” not assassinating him at his golf course.
“How can you take three sentences out of 12 pages?” asked Routh. “How fair is that?” He added that the main object here was to “ascertain the truth.”
Two former associates, brothers Samuel and Lazaro Plata, also testified with Spanish-English interpreters. Samuel Plata described finding the gray box with cartridges, pipes, four phones and a letter and said he alerted law enforcement.
Lazaro told jurors Routh left the box at his home and said three phrases from the letter stuck in his memory: “Dear World,” “Donald Trump,” and “$150,000.”
In a text shown in court, Routh wrote: “Ryan Routh here. Want to give you my son Oran’s number in case I die in the next 10 or 20 years, so you can reach him.” On cross-examination, Routh asked, “Are you mad at me?” Lazaro replied, “How do you want me to feel?” Routh: “I want you to be happy.” Cannon ended the exchange after Routh continued trying to pivot.
Prosecutors plan to finish their case and Cannon told the defense to be ready with witnesses Friday morning. Routh has indicated he plans to call a firearms expert and character witnesses, but it remains unclear whether he will testify on his own behalf.
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