Old video of Donald Trump golfing wrongly linked to second assassination attempt

What's being claimed?

A video of former U.S. President Donald Trump golfing has been shared online with a claim that the video was shot in Florida by the shooter accused of a second assassination attempt. 

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the video with the caption, "Where was Secret Service when dude got close enough to get this footage? Ya. The 2nd 'assassination' attempt was fake AF." The post garnered 18,000 likes and 4,000 retweets. An archive version of the post is here. 

Screenshot of the viral post shared online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The claim was shared shortly after the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that a second assassination attempt on the Republican candidate for the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections was foiled in Florida on September 15, 2024. 

The muzzle of a rifle — an SKS semi-automatic — and the gunman were spotted by security service agents. A suspect named Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested and charged with firearms offenses. 

However, the video pre-dates the assassination attempt and shows Trump playing golf in Los Angeles. 

Here are the facts

Through reverse image search, we found the same video shared by the editor-in-chief of MediasTouch Network Ron Filipkoswki on July 16, 2023 (archived here). It was captioned: "Trump golf game this week is going about as well as his court cases." 

USA Today, in its Golfweek edition published on July 14, 2023, reported that the video of former President Trump went viral after being first shared by an Instagram user; the account is now private. 

The report adds that Trump missed the target while trying to hit towards the green while playing golf at the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. The Mirror also reports the same.

While Logically Facts couldn't conclusively verify the date and time of the video recorded, it certainly predates the second assassination attempt on Trump.

The verdict 

An old video of Trump playing golf in Los Angeles has been shared with the false claim that it was captured recently ahead of an assassination attempt in Florida.