The individual accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump has submitted his list of intended witnesses for the forthcoming trial, and several names may prove surprising to those involved.

Ryan Routh, 59, is self-representing against charges of trying to shoot the president last year at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. With the trial set to commence next week, Routh submitted his witness list on Tuesday, which included both a derogatory remark and an accusation.

“Donald John Trump” appears as the 22nd witness Routh plans to call, whom he described as an “insecure ego idiot-mad fool.” The preceding 21 names consist of a firearms expert, multiple medical professionals, and Routh”s own son.

However, some names might arouse confusion within the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) — despite its earlier concerns over the trial becoming a “circus” following U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to allow Routh to represent himself. Routh seeks to question Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi — influential Columbia University activists held by ICE after campus protests about the Israel-Hamas conflict — alongside a noted Palestinian academic.

Routh has openly supported Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, even claiming “[Trump] is not good for Ukraine,” according to a DOJ document. He also traveled to Ukraine in 2022 aiming to enlist foreign fighters for the nation’s defense, but did not succeed.

Routh has been charged with attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and multiple firearm violations on Sept. 15, 2024. The case has no apparent link or connection to the Israel-Hamas war or Ukraine.

The defendant’s witness list is far different from the government’s, which mentions mostly law enforcement agents from the FBI, Secret Service, and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, among others.

Routh does make mention of the Secret Service, asking for one agent who “fired shots” to be a witness. The name of his final requested witness is redacted and set next to an allegation from Routh. This person, according to Routh, allegedly “wanted me to spank/slap a– and I — refused; I will not spank, choke or pull hair-NO.”

Last month, Cannon – a Trump appointee – permitted Routh to call an expert witness to testify on his behalf against DOJ claims about his gun and how he was allegedly “hid[ing]” and waiting for Trump. This expert – Michael McClay, a former sniper in the U.S. Marines – is the first name listed on Routh’s list from Tuesday.

But Routh has also faced setbacks in his defense. Earlier last month, Cannon blocked him from accessing “classified information” over issues of “national security.”

Also on Tuesday, she denied in part a motion from Routh to introduce two of his written letters, one of which was titled “What do we as a world need to fix.” Cannon noted that prosecutors did not intent to introduce either of the letters into evidence at trial.

Routh’s witness list appearing to contain names not directly related to his case would track with how prosecutors see his defense. In July, they wrote that “It is the defendant’s evidence that is most likely to upend this trial by injecting irrelevant and prejudicial facts unrelated to the actual charges.”

Routh was arrested on Sept. 15, 2024, when a Secret Service agent allegedly saw him with a rifle “in the exterior brush along the fence line near the 6th hole putting green” at Trump’s golf course. The agent opened fire, causing Routh to flee before he was arrested, authorities said. Federal agents said they found a letter on Routh stating that “[t]his was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.”

Routh’s defense team took issue with the case landing before Cannon, pointing out that Trump appointed her to her U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, that she dismissed the classified documents indictment against Trump brought by former special counsel Jack Smith, and that the president has repeatedly praised the judge in public.

Cannon has dismissed the backlash and refused to recuse herself from the case. The trial is set to begin on Monday.