The incident occurred on Sunday at 19:00 Swedish time when former President Donald Trump played golf at Trump International Golf Club in Florida together with his donor Steve Witkoff. According to the news agency AP, they were at the fifth hole when they heard popping sounds.
A Secret Service agent is said to have seen a rifle barrel sticking out through a fence on the golf course. The man fled when he was discovered, and the security team opened fire on him, but he was not hit.
The man never got to fire his weapon himself, according to Ric Bradshaw, sheriff in Palm Beach County, reports BBC.
The man, named in the USA, was brought before a judge in a federal court in Florida on Monday. He was formally charged with two weapons offenses: possession of a weapon despite being previously convicted, and the weapon having its registration number removed. The man is to appear before the judge again next Monday.
Trump was about 400 meters from the suspected shooter when the agents intervened. They surrounded Trump and quickly moved him to a clubhouse on the golf course.
A witness is said to have seen the man running out of the bushes and into a black Nissan. Left at the scene near the bushes was an AK-47 automatic rifle with a scope and a body camera.
After he fled, the man drove north on I-95, where he was later arrested. He was then unarmed.
Later in the evening, the FBI announced that they were investigating the incident as an attempted murder of Donald Trump.
The arrested man is a 58-year-old construction worker registered in Hawaii. According to CNN, he has been arrested several times before, mostly for minor crimes.
On social media accounts linked to the man, it appears that he has a strong commitment to Ukraine and has apparently been involved in getting foreign soldiers into the country to fight against Russian troops. According to AP, he has made at least one trip to Ukraine.
The 58-year-old has also written negatively about Trump on social media.
Donald Trump, who is unharmed, has written on his social media platform Truth Social that he appreciates all the congratulations and thanks the Secret Service in particular for taking care of his safety.
The suspected murder attempt is the second in two months against Donald Trump. On July 13, he was hit by a bullet in the ear and lightly injured during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One spectator was killed and two were injured.
