President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his Administration intends to reinstitute the death penalty for all murder cases occurring in Washington, D.C. This move represents his latest effort to tackle crime and assert authority over the nation’s capital.
During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump declared, “If someone commits murder in the capital, Washington, D.C., we will be pursuing the death penalty,” characterizing capital punishment as “a highly effective preventative measure.” He further clarified that while states “will have to make their own decision,” prosecutors in D.C. would be mandated to seek the death penalty, stating, “We have no other option.”
The announcement lacked specific details on how it would be implemented. The District of Columbia last carried out an execution in . Most homicides in Washington, D.C. are charged under local criminal statutes and are heard in D.C. Superior Court, which does not permit capital punishment. The District’s elected officials abolished the death penalty in 1981, and residents rejected its restoration in a 1992 referendum by a significant margin.
However, the nation’s capital is unique in that the U.S. Attorney’s office in D.C. prosecutes both local and federal offenses, enabling it, in certain instances, to bring federal charges that include the possibility of a death sentence.
Trump’s remarks highlighted how his Administration has been expanding its influence over public safety in the nation’s capital since early August, when he assumed control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed National Guard troops to patrol city streets. City data indicates an 8% decrease in overall crime in D.C. over the past year, including a 15% drop in homicides, which have fallen from a 20-year peak of 274 in 2023 to 102 thus far this year. The White House has disputed those figures, and the Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether the district’s crime data has been manipulated to appear lower.
Any extensive initiative for capital punishment in Washington, D.C. would largely depend on federal charging decisions. In accordance with long-standing Justice Department protocol, the Attorney General must approve the decision to pursue a death sentence after a review by the department’s Capital Case Section.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was seated opposite the President at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, would ultimately determine whether federal prosecutors can seek a death sentence in a given case. If she grants authorization, the U.S. Attorney for the District must file formal notification with the court. Bondi previously approved capital charges in a New York case involving the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive Brian Thompson.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., has stated in recent weeks that Justice Department officials are weighing capital charges in several pending matters. This includes the case of Elias Rodriguez, who is accused of fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staff members as they departed a Jewish community event in May. Prosecutors have also informed the federal court that the department is considering seeking capital punishment in a long-running gang case involving two Mexican nationals charged in 2008 who were recently extradited to the United States, and in a 2023 carjacking case involving two young men.
History suggests that the path outlined by Trump would be difficult to navigate. Juries in D.C. have shown reluctance to impose death sentences even in exceptionally violent cases. In 2003, during the city’s most recent death penalty trial, federal prosecutors sought capital punishment for Rodney Moore, convicted in 10 slayings, and Kevin Gray, convicted in 19. Following an eight-month trial, court records show that jurors could not unanimously agree to a death sentence, and both men received life terms instead.
Trump has long been an advocate for broader use of capital punishment. On his first day back in office, he issued a directive that pressed the attorney general to pursue the death penalty “for all crimes of a severity demanding its use” and encouraged state prosecutors to adopt death-penalty policies. More recently, he has vowed to reinstate federal executions and to expand capital eligibility nationwide.
In his final weeks in office, President Joe Biden commuted 37 federal death sentences, leaving only three inmates on federal death row.
Public opinion on the death penalty has changed substantially over the past several decades. A survey found that 53% of Americans in 2024 supported capital punishment in murder cases, a decrease from 80% in 1994.
