A 58-year-old man detained in connection with an apparent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump has said in an interview in 2023 that he planned to recruit potential Afghan soldiers through Pakistan to fight in Ukraine against Russia.

"We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan since it's such a corrupt country," he was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

During Sunday's attack, Trump was on the course, a few hundred yards away, when Secret Service personnel spotted Routh concealed in the bushes and opened fire, law enforcement officials were quoted as saying by the New York Times.