United States President Donald Trump has ignited a fierce national debate by announcing that his administration will seek the death penalty in every murder case prosecuted in Washington, DC. The declaration, made during a Labor Day-themed cabinet meeting on August 26, 2025, signals a dramatic escalation in Trump’s ongoing campaign to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital—and has already drawn both support and sharp criticism from legal experts, politicians, and community leaders.
Trump, flanked by his cabinet and key allies, did not mince words as he laid out his plan. “Anybody murders something in the capital: capital punishment. Capital capital punishment,” he said, relishing the wordplay. “If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, DC, we’re going to be seeking the death penalty. And that’s a very strong preventative, and everybody that’s heard it agrees with it.” According to CNN, Trump acknowledged the controversy his proposal would spark but insisted, “I don’t know if we’re ready for it in this country, but we have no choice. States are gonna have to make their own decision.”
The president’s announcement comes at a time when Washington, DC, occupies a unique legal position in the United States. Unlike other cities, nearly all violent crimes in the capital are prosecuted federally by the US Attorney’s Office, a branch of the Department of Justice. This sets the stage for Trump’s directive to have a direct and sweeping impact—at least in theory.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, speaking at a press conference on the same day, confirmed the administration’s intent. “We will use all legal sanctions and sentences called for by law,” Pirro said, as reported by CNN. When pressed about the challenges of securing death sentences from DC juries, she added, “We’re going to follow the law, the deliberative process, present the evidence … whether DC is inclined to do it or not, it’s not a political issue. This is an issue that’s sanctioned by the law, and gives us the power to do that. If not us, then who?”
Yet, legal and practical obstacles loom large. The DC Superior Court, which handles most murder cases, is bound by city code that does not authorize capital punishment. However, as CNN notes, the US Attorney’s Office can bring federal charges in capital-eligible cases. Even then, obtaining a death sentence may prove difficult. Prosecutors must convince a jury to unanimously approve the penalty—a tall order in a city that has historically opposed capital punishment. The last federal death penalty trial in DC, back in 2003, ended without death sentences for the convicted, as jurors could not reach a unanimous decision.
“It’s going to be difficult to find 12 people in DC who are going to do that,” said Jon Jeffress, a former federal public defender, echoing the skepticism of many in the city’s legal community.
Trump’s move represents a sharp reversal from the previous administration’s stance. Under President Joe Biden, the Justice Department issued a moratorium on the federal death penalty, reflecting Biden’s campaign promise to eliminate capital punishment at the federal level. In one of his final acts as president, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 people on federal death row, and he warned that a new administration might resume executions. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” Biden wrote in a December statement, as reported by The Al Jazeera.
But on January 20, 2025—his inauguration day—Trump wasted no time in restoring the federal death penalty via executive order. “Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens,” Trump declared in the order, according to BBC. He has since doubled down, promising to “vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”
Trump’s record on the death penalty is already historic. During his first term from 2017 to 2021, his administration carried out 13 of the 16 federal executions conducted since 1976, breaking a 130-year-old precedent of pausing executions during presidential transitions. No other president in recent history comes close—George W. Bush oversaw just three federal executions during his tenure. As BBC notes, those executions made Trump the country’s most prolific executioner in over a century.
The timing of Trump’s announcement is no accident. It coincides with a broader crackdown on crime in Washington, DC, including the deployment of more than 2,000 National Guard troops and hundreds of federal law enforcement officers to the city earlier in August 2025. Trump has described the situation as “complete and total lawlessness,” though local officials contest this narrative. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime in DC actually hit a 30-year low in 2024, with homicides dropping by 32% from the previous year—a statistic the Justice Department highlighted in January.
Despite these figures, Trump remains unswayed. “Crime in DC was the worst ever in history. And now over the last 13 days, we’ve worked so hard and we’ve taken so many — and there are many left — but we’ve taken so many criminals. Over a thousand,” he said at the cabinet meeting, though he offered no evidence for these claims. He also accused city officials of manipulating crime statistics. “What they did is they issued numbers: ‘It’s the best in 30 years.’ Not the best. It’s the worst. It’s the worst,” Trump asserted. “And they gave phoney numbers.”
On August 25, just a day before his cabinet meeting, Trump signed an executive order creating a new National Guard unit tasked with ensuring public safety in the capital. The move has raised eyebrows, as the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally prohibits the use of military forces for domestic law enforcement, except in cases of disasters or major emergencies. Trump’s characterization of crime in DC as a national emergency is hotly disputed by local leaders, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, who points to the city’s declining crime rates and has rejected the need for federal intervention.
Public opinion on the death penalty is also shifting. According to Gallup, as of 2024, just 53 percent of Americans supported capital punishment—a notable drop from 63 percent a decade earlier. In Washington, DC, opposition is even more pronounced. The city repealed its own death penalty in 1981, and a 2002 referendum saw residents overwhelmingly reject its reinstatement.
Still, the Trump administration appears undeterred. In recent months, the Justice Department has indicated in at least three DC federal cases that it may seek the death penalty, including the high-profile prosecution of Elias Rodriguez, accused of shooting two Israeli embassy staff members, and several other violent crime cases.
As Trump’s policy takes shape, its fate may ultimately rest with DC juries—and with a nation divided over the meaning of justice, deterrence, and the role of government in the most severe forms of punishment. The coming months are likely to see legal challenges, political battles, and, perhaps, a reckoning over America’s long and troubled relationship with the death penalty.
