By Gram Slattery and Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A man suspected of

attempting to assassinate Donald Trump was charged with two

gun-related crimes in federal court on Monday, a day after being

spotted with a rifle hiding in the bushes at the former U.S.

president's golf course in Florida.

Phone records suggest the suspect may have been lying in

wait for nearly 12 hours, camped out with a rifle and food,

according to a criminal complaint filed on Monday.

More charges appear likely, but the initial counts -

possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a

firearm with an obliterated serial number - will allow

authorities to keep him in custody as the investigation

continues.

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the Nov. 5

election, was unharmed. But the incident raised fresh questions

about how an armed suspect was able to get so close to him, just

two months after another gunman fired at Trump during a July 13

rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear with a bullet.

The U.S. Secret Service opened fire after an agent saw a

rifle barrel poking out of the bushes on Sunday at Trump's golf

course in West Palm Beach, a few hundred yards away from where

the former president was playing.

The gunman fled in a sports utility vehicle, according to

the complaint. Officers found a loaded assault-style rifle with

a scope, a digital camera and a plastic bag of food left behind.

A suspect, identified on Monday as Ryan Routh, 58, was

arrested about 40 minutes later driving north on Interstate 95.

When asked if he knew why he had been stopped, Routh "responded

in the affirmative," according to the complaint. The license

plate on his vehicle had been reported stolen from another car.

Records show a phone associated with Routh was located at

the golf course starting at 1:59 a.m. (0559 GMT) on Sunday

morning, 11-1/2 hours before the incident.

Routh has at least two prior felony convictions, both in

North Carolina, according to the criminal complaint.

In 2002, Routh pleaded guilty to possession of an

unregistered fully automatic gun, defined in North Carolina law

as a weapon of mass destruction, according to the county

district attorney's office, and was sentenced to probation. He

was also convicted of possessing stolen goods in 2010.

Trump's campaign schedule will remain unchanged, according

to a source with knowledge of the matter. He is scheduled to

unveil a new cryptocurrency business on X on Monday night, and

will host a town hall in Michigan on Tuesday and a rally in

Wednesday in New York.

Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala

Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, for the apparent

assassination attempt. He claimed the suspected gunman was

acting on Democrats' "highly inflammatory language," though

authorities have not yet offered evidence of any motive.

"Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the

one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that

are destroying the country - both from the inside and out," he

said, according to Fox.

On Sunday, Harris said on X: "Violence has no place in

America."

Speaking at an event in Philadelphia on Monday, Biden

said, "In America, we resolve our differences peacefully at the

ballot box, not at the end of a gun."

Local and federal authorities were expected to provide

updates at a 4 p.m. ET

(2000 GMT)

news conference.

SECRET SERVICE UNDER PRESSURE

The Secret Service, which protects U.S. presidents,

presidential candidates and other high-level dignitaries, has

been under intense scrutiny since the earlier attempt on Trump's

life.

That led to the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle.

The service bolstered Trump's security detail following the July

13 attack, in which the gunman was shot dead by responding

agents.

The agency "needs more help," including possibly more

personnel, Biden told reporters on Monday, adding: "Thank God

the president's OK."

House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who convened

a bipartisan task force to investigate the first assassination

attempt, said in a Fox News interview that Congress would also

examine the latest incident.

"We need accountability," said Johnson, who also called for

more resources to protect Trump.

Cheatle's replacement, Acting Director Ronald Rowe, traveled

to Florida after Sunday's assassination attempt, according to

several news outlets. Rowe, who took over after Cheatle's

resignation in July, told Congress on July 30 he was "ashamed"

of security lapses in the earlier attack.

Rowe has been with the 7,800-member Secret Service for 25

years, according to an official biography, rising to the

agency's No. 2 spot before he was promoted in July.

SUSPECT IS UKRAINE SYMPATHIZER

Routh is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and traveled there

after Russia's 2022 invasion, seeking to recruit foreign

fighters. Ukrainian officials distanced themselves from Routh on

Monday, and The International Legion, where many foreign

fighters in Ukraine serve, said it had no links with Routh.

Profiles on X, Facebook and LinkedIn with Routh's name

contained messages of support for Ukraine as well as statements

describing Trump as a threat to U.S. democracy.

"@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF.

Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make

Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we

cannot lose," read a post on X, tagging Biden.

Reuters was not able to confirm that the accounts belonged

to the suspect. Public access to the Facebook and X profiles was

removed hours after Sunday's incident.

Harris and other Democrats have cast Trump as a danger to

U.S. democracy, citing his effort to overturn his defeat in the

2020 election, which led to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the

U.S. Capitol. Harris has promised unwavering support for Ukraine

if elected.

Trump has expressed skepticism about the amount of aid the

U.S. has provided Ukraine and has vowed to end the war

immediately if elected. He told Reuters last year that Ukraine

might have to cede some territory to gain peace.

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, posted and then

deleted a message on the social media site on Sunday wondering

why no one had tried to assassinate Biden or Harris. In a

follow-up post on Monday, Musk, who has endorsed Trump, said he

had been joking.