The US president has directed Attorney General Pamela Bondi to pursue capital punishment in the district for the “most heinous crimes”
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 measure follows Trump’s sweeping crackdown on crime in the capital. In August he invoked the 1973 Home Rule Act to declare a public safety emergency, placing the city’s Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to support local law enforcement.
The death penalty has not been legal in Washington, DC, since the Supreme Court nullified capital punishment statutes nationwide in 1972. City residents rejected its reinstatement in a 1992 referendum. While the federal government retains authority to seek capital punishment in certain cases, Trump’s attempt to extend its use across DC homicide prosecutions is expected to face legal and political challenges.
Twenty-seven US states currently allow executions, while 23 have abolished the practice. Trump has long advocated the broader use of capital punishment as a deterrent against violent crime. In recent weeks, he has called for the death penalty for the killers of Ukrainian journalist Iryna Zarutska and conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
