This was not an impulsive act. Federal cell phone records — obtained through emergency request from T-Mobile — showed that Routh's phone had accessed cell towers near both Trump International Golf Club and Mar-a-Lago on multiple occasions between August 18 and September 15, 2024. He was conducting surveillance. He was learning the pattern.
On the day of the attack, his phone registered at the fence line location at 1:59 AM and remained there until the moment he fled — 1:31 PM. Eleven hours and thirty-two minutes in position. He brought food. He brought armor plates. He mounted a digital camera on the fence itself, angled to capture the sixth green — the hole Trump was scheduled to play when Routh planned to fire.
The rifle was a Norinco SKS, chambered in 7.62x39mm — a Chinese-manufactured semi-automatic rifle, loaded with 20 rounds, its serial number deliberately obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye. Among the ammunition recovered were loose cartridges including at least one with a distinctive green lacquer coating characteristic of Soviet and Eastern Bloc military surplus.
In his black Nissan Xterra — bearing a license plate stolen from a 2012 white Ford truck — investigators found multiple mobile phones, a list of international flights, and directions to Miami International Airport. He had planned to run. He had planned to disappear.
