Suspected gunman Ryan Routh had urged Iran to assassinate Trump in bizarre self-published book

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Ryan Wesley Routh — who is in custody for an attempted assassination of Donald Trump — had previously self-published a book discussing the Ukraine conflict and even urged Iran to assassinate the former president.

Routh allegedly tried to assassinate the former president on Sunday, September 15, outside his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. But this wasn’t just some random act of violence; Routh had left a trail of clues in social media posts as well as a self-published book that delved into global conflicts and even called for the assassination of Trump.

Ryan Wesley Routh's book laced with red flags

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was officially charged with multiple firearm violations the day after the incident. However, the authorities have yet to establish a motive.

That said, his self-published book and online presence provide more than enough hints about where his head was at, the Daily Beast reported.

In February last year, Routh published a book titled 'Ukraine’s Unwinnable War' on Amazon. The title itself is gloomy, but the subtitle takes it to a whole new level: 'The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen -Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the End of Humanity'.

The book is filled with grim descriptions of war, including graphic narratives of soldiers dying in Ukraine and Afghanistan. According to Routh, these accounts came from his friends in those regions.

One entire chapter in the book is dedicated to a very loaded question: "Why has Putin not been assassinated?" Clearly, Routh had a fantasy about eliminating world leaders.

But perhaps the most shocking part of Routh’s book was his open call for Iran to assassinate Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported. In one passage, Routh declared: “Iran, I apologize. You are free to assassinate Trump.”

He was apparently angry about Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal, calling the former president a "fool" and a "buffoon".

Routh took it a step further, “You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal.”

He didn’t stop there, adding, “No one here in the US seems to have the b***s to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection.”

Ryan Wesley Routh's wild scheme involving Afghan soldiers

Ryan Wesley Routh’s bizarre ideas didn’t end there. He also bragged about having “5900 Afghan soldiers ready to deploy to Ukraine".

It seems Routh had concocted a plan to get Afghan soldiers, who were fleeing the Taliban, onto the battlefield in Eastern Europe.

He even sat down for an interview with a New York Times reporter to discuss this ambitious idea. However, the reporter eventually concluded about Routh "it was clear he was in way over his head.”

Routh even voiced his frustrations with the situation in an interview with Semafor in March last year.

“Ukraine is very often hard to work with. Many foreign soldiers leave after a week in Ukraine or must move from unit to unit to find a place they are respected and appreciated,” he told the outlet.

He said he'd been “yelled at” every time he suggested they tap Afghan commandos. “They’re afraid that anybody and everybody is a Russian spy."

“Most of the Ukrainian authorities do not want these soldiers,” Routh added. “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.”

Despite all his big talk, it’s not clear if Routh ever had any real connection to Ukrainian defense officials. In fact, Ukrainian authorities made it pretty clear that they weren’t interested in his ideas.

The International Legion — a volunteer unit fighting in Ukraine — flatly declared that Routh had “never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity.”

A spokesperson from the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command told the Associated Press that Routh’s ideas were “nonsensical” and could "best be described as delusional.”