World sees muted response to 2nd Trump assassination attempt, some condemn political violence
While some world leaders have once again reacted to another assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the response from other nation leaders this time around has been slow to nonexistent just a mere nine weeks following the first attempt on the former president’s life.
Leaders from top U.S. allied nations, like Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany and France, had yet to publicly condemn the second assassination attempt as of Monday morning.
Few details surrounding the incident, which occurred while the former president golfed at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, have been released, and the motive of the alleged assailant, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, also remains unclear.
Sheriff vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club on Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida, after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
REACTIONS POUR IN AS AUTHORITIES HOLD GUNMAN IN SECOND TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Despite the muted response from some world leaders, others looked to condemn the political violence.
In a message to reporters, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was just in the U.S. meeting with President Biden last week, said he was “deeply troubled” by the news.
“I think it is really important that we’re all very, very clear that violence has no part to play at all in any political process,” he said, according to multiple British news outlets.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to social media to share his reaction and said he and his wife were “shocked” by the second attempt and were “were relieved to hear that it too failed.”
“But we should not rely on luck,” he continued. “We send our best wishes to Donald and Melania along with our hopes that all measures will be taken to ensure that such deadly attacks on a candidate for the US presidency will be foiled in advance.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – who recently found himself a topic of debate in the U.S. between Trump and his Democratic challenger Vice President Kamala Harris – also shared his thoughts on X.
“It is clear that President Trump’s life is in danger, until his victory,” Orbán said. “We are praying for you, Mr. President!”
Trump, like Orbán, has drawn international scrutiny over his opposition of Western aid to Ukraine and has prompted concern over whether the U.S. will continue to arm Ukraine should he win the election this November.
The former president has repeatedly made claims that he could end the war before even taking up the top job in January 2025 if he secures a second term this fall, though he has refused to detail how he would do this or even clarify if he supports victory for Ukraine over Russia.
Ryan Routh is accused of aiming an AK-47 at former President Donald Trump while he was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. It is being investigated as a second assassination attempt on Trump. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Though the FBI has not released any details about Routh’s motive, U.S. and international media outlets have pointed to his alleged support for Ukraine, with some reports claiming he helped recruit for Kyiv’s war effort through the International Legion Defense of Ukraine.
Fox News Digital could not verify whether Routh was directly involved in the war in Ukraine through fighting or recruitment efforts, though Ukrainian officials countered reports claiming he was and said, “Rumors disseminated in certain media are not true.”
“American citizen Ryan Routh has never served in the International Legion of the Man Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, has no relation to the unit,” the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, a military unit made up of foreign volunteers fighting in the Ukrainian Ground Forces,” said in a post on Instagram Monday.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump speak during the second presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made no reference to the assailant but said he was glad to hear Trump was unharmed.
“It’s good that the suspect in the assassination attempt was apprehended quickly,” he said in a post on X. “This is our principle: the rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear to have publicly commented on the assassination attempt, though Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday looked to link the second attempt on Trump’s life with the assailant’s apparent support for Ukraine.
“It is not us who should be thinking, it is the U.S. intelligence services who should be thinking. In any case, playing with fire has its consequences,” Peskov said when he was asked about the Sunday events, reported Reuters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during the Navy Day Parade on July, 31 2022 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)
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Ukrainian officials said Russia was using the political violence as an attempt to stir up “conspiracy theories.”
Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said the Kremlin was “using another assassination attempt on Trump against Ukraine in the information field.”
“The enemy will launch a number of conspiracy theories about the ‘Ukrainian trace’. Of course, all of this is a lie,” he added, according to Reuters.
