Trump executive order enforces death penalty in Washington DC

Trump order enforces death penalty in DC

President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., to more aggressively pursue the death penalty.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, ordering officials to more strictly enforce the death penalty in Washington, D.C. 

What does Trump's executive order say?

What we know:

The order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro to seek the death penalty "in all appropriate cases," and to pursue federal jurisdiction for cases involving crimes in D.C. whenever possible.

Thursday's order furthers another executive order Trump issued on his first day in office, ordering Bondi to seek the death penalty more broadly.

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"You kill somebody, or if you kill a police officer, a law enforcement officer — death penalty," Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Trump said the order was his administration's latest effort to lower crime in the city, following the federal takeover, which expired earlier this month.

"We were living in hell," Trump said of Washington before the emergency order.

Trump to seek death penalty in DC murder cases

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump called for capital punishment in Washington, D.C. The death penalty was repealed by D.C. council in the 1980s.

The backstory:

In August, Trump mobilized 800 National Guardsmen to Washington to "help reestablish law, order and public safety." While that emergency order ended on Sept. 10, the National Guard has remained in the city.

On Thursday, Trump praised their efforts in D.C.

"This went from the most unsafe city in the country to the safest city in the country," Trump said. "

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During the takeover, DC saw a 12-day period without a single homicide in the city. But according to FBI data from 2024, DC was far from the most dangerous city in the U.S. 

The other side:

Free DC, a local community action group, called Trump's order a "pathetic" power grab.

"Trump wants all of us to be afraid because it's the only tool he has," Free DC wrote in a statement shared on social media. "…This Executive Order is designed to spread fear and foremost. That's something we know authoritarians always do. His actions are not about safety, they are only about him consolidating power."