Even as authorities were closing in on a suspect Friday in this week’s attempted mail-bombing spree, Donald Trump appeared to be increasingly frustrated with the way the story was trending. All of the targets were high-profile Trump critics—on Friday, two more suspicious packages were intercepted en route to Democratic Senator Cory Booker and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, bringing the total number to 12—and Trump, it seems, could not suppress the feeling that he was being set up. “Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows,” he erupted on Twitter, placing “bomb” in scare quotes. Then he pivoted to an almost unimaginably cynical message to his supporters. “Very unfortunate, what is going on,” he continued, apparently referring to the incipient blame game, as opposed to the attempted bombings themselves. “Republicans, go out and vote!”

Indeed, the narrative is unlikely to improve for Trump. Shortly after the “‘Bomb’ stuff” tweet, the Department of Justice confirmed that a suspect had been taken into custody in Florida. Early reports name the suspect as 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc Jr., who had been arrested 10 times, including once for a bomb threat in 2002. Photos of a van recovered by authorities in connection with the potential bomber appear to show the vehicle covered in pro-Trump stickers and “right-wing paraphernalia.” The New York Times reported that a similar van was often seen in the Aventura area, and a Florida resident shared close-up photos of that van, which included pictures of liberal figures like Michael Moore, Van Jones, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama in crosshairs. Another reads, “CNN Sucks.”

In a press conference Friday, F.B.I. director Christopher Wray said that they had tracked down Sayoc from a fingerprint found on a package meant for Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, and that the bombs were all active I.E.D.s. “These are not hoax devices,” he emphasized, addressing the “false flag” theories suggesting that the devices were a partisan plot. Media outlets immediately unearthed Sayoc’s social media history, which included threatening tweets and messages he had sent to his Democratic targets over the past several weeks. “See u soon Tick Tock 4,” he wrote to former Attorney General Eric Holder, bringing up his role in the Fast and Furious scandal, and attacked “wannabe tough guy” Joe Biden: “Hug your loved son,Niece,wife family real close everytime U walk out your home” [sic].

Sayoc’s political orientation should be irrelevant; the man, it appears, is clearly unwell. In reality, however, partisans were already preparing for this moment—as was Trump. In a 3:14 A.M. tweet that seemed to foretell the possibility that the bomber would be one of his fans, he unleashed a scathing critique of CNN for “blaming” him for the bombs:

The fact that Sayoc appears to be a right-wing Trump supporter, while unsurprising, will surely complicate matters for both the media and the president. (Further evidence emerged on his alleged Facebook page, which was plastered with selfies from Trump rallies.) In the days since the first explosive device was delivered to George Soros (followed by the Obamas, the Clintons, CNN, and others), journalists and pundits have struggled to cover a story in which they have become a subject. At issue is the role Trump has played in raising the temperature of political discourse. Over the past two years, he has frequently appeared to endorse the use of violence against reporters, critics, and CNN, in particular.