Trump Reinstates Death Penalty in Washington DC

By Staff, Agencies

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order greenlighting the reinstatement of the death penalty for murder in Washington, DC, which he said would help deter violence in the nation’s capital.

The order directs US Attorney General Pamela Bondi and US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro to “fully implement” capital punishment where evidence supports it.

Trump announced the move during a White House signing ceremony, surrounded by Bondi, Vice President J.D. Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel and others.

“Death penalty in Washington,” Trump said as he signed the directive. “You kill somebody, or if you kill a police officer, law enforcement officer – death penalty. And hopefully there won’t be that. We’ve had week after week where we haven’t had a murder.”

White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf described capital punishment as “one of the most powerful deterrents we have to violent crime” and said it was part of Trump’s effort to make Washington “a safe and secure city for its residents and all who visit.”

The move follows Trump’s crime crackdown in the capital, where he declared a public safety emergency in August, placing the Metropolitan Police under federal control and deploying National Guard troops.

The death penalty has been illegal in Washington, DC, since 1972, when the Supreme Court struck down capital punishment nationwide. Despite a 1992 referendum rejecting its reinstatement, Trump’s push to extend it to DC homicide cases is likely to face legal and political hurdles.

Twenty-seven US states still permit executions, while 23 have abolished the death penalty. Trump, a longtime advocate for capital punishment as a crime deterrent, recently called for its use against the killers of Ukrainian journalist Iryna Zarutska and activist Charlie Kirk.