(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Judge Aileen Cannon revealed in a Tuesday order that alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh has been diagnosed with “a narcissistic personality disorder,” as well as “mixed personality features, including schizotypal, narcissistic, and antisocial features.”
Routh is the man accused of hiding in the bushes with a rifle at President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach golf course last September. A Secret Service agent allegedly spotted him and shot at him, causing Routh to flee the scene. He was captured about 45 minutes later.
🚨NEW: Ryan Routh's mental health diagnoses have been revealed in a court order.
Dr. Holmes says he has ‘a narcissistic personality disorder,’ while Dr. Buigas says he has 'schizotypal, narcissistic, and antisocial features.’
Both doctors ruled him competent to stand trial. https://t.co/gJoqbcRr8p pic.twitter.com/CaaSvdg2FJ— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 27, 2025
As part of his pretrial proceedings, Routh’s attorneys contemplated an insanity defense. They later decided against that.
Recently, Routh fired his attorneys and is now representing himself. One of his first moves was to ask Judge Cannon to compel two doctors who evaluated him—Drs. Heather Holmes and Rodolfo Buigus—to testify at his trial. Routh argued that his attorneys made a “gross oversight” in not calling them as witnesses earlier. He said the doctors would demonstrate his lack of intent to kill Trump.
In her order, Judge Cannon denied Routh’s request, saying that he missed the deadline to call new expert witnesses. She also cited her order barring mental-health related evidence, which she issued after Routh’s lawyers said they weren’t using the insanity defense.
“The net result of this chronology is obvious: Defendant’s Motion to permit disclosure of expert witnesses is clearly untimely and fails to establish good cause to excuse the untimely proffer of already barred mental-health related evidence at this late stage,” she said.
In any event, it’s unclear how the doctors’ testimony would have helped Routh. Both doctors deemed Routh competent to stand trial, Judge Cannon noted.
“Drs. Buigas and Holmes conducted psychological evaluations of Defendant; Dr. Buigas completed a competency evaluation in February 2025, concluding that Defendant was competent to proceed and not eligible for an insanity defense; Dr. Holmes completed an evaluation for potential sentencing purposes in July 2025, finding Defendant competent to proceed and ineligible for an insanity or diminished capacity defense,” Cannon said.
Alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh filed a motion today to compel the testimony of Dr. Heather Holmes, whose areas expertise includes "Mental Retardation," according to her LinkedIn.
Drs. Holmes and Rodolfo Buigus apparently evaluated Routh at some point. Biugus's CV… pic.twitter.com/RskUQ7pGoO
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 8, 2025
“Beyond these top-line conclusions, Dr. Holmes’s report states that Defendant meets the criteria for ‘a narcissistic personality disorder,’ while Dr. Buigas more broadly concludes that Defendant has ‘mixed personality features including schizotypal, narcissistic, and antisocial features.’ The Court considered Dr. Buigas’s evaluation in determining whether Defendant’s waiver of appointed counsel was both knowing and voluntary.”
Routh’s trial is set to begin with jury selection on Sept. 8.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
