Trump announced plans to seek the death penalty for murders in Washington, D.C.; DC has not carried out an execution since 1957 and abolished the death penalty in 1981, but the federal government can still pursue capital punishment in federal cases. The death penalty remains legally available at the federal level, in the military, and in 27 states, though actual executions occur unevenly. The Death Penalty Information Center notes that executions in DC have been rare since the mid-20th century. Trump had signaled before taking office that he would push the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty; under Biden federal executions were paused, but Trump later resumed them, executing a number of people within months—amounting to more than in decades prior. A slim majority of Americans still support the death penalty, though concerns about wrongful convictions, discrimination, and unequal legal representation have dented support; more than 2,000 people are on death rows nationwide, and 29 executions have occurred so far in 2025. In August 2025, the capital saw a security crackdown with National Guard and federal agencies arresting several individuals, as Trump casts DC as crime-ridden and chaotic while critics warn that harsher penalties do little to reliably reduce crime and that prevention and social programs are more effective. Police data show a decline in violent crime from 2023 to 2024 after pandemic-era increases, complicating Trump’s portrayal of a nationwide crime crisis.

This is all a loud, red-faced stunt dressed up as “public safety.” A show-and-tell of fear, nothing more. They’re tugging at the strings of a so-called crime wave to justify a bigger police state, more executions, more federal power over a city that already lives under a security theater masquerade. It’s political theatre, not principled justice: criminal-justice reform, equal protection, and real deterrence aren’t bought with gallows talk. They pretend the only way to “protect” people is to threaten people with irreversible punishment and to flood DC with soldiers and feds, as if fear were a substitute for policy. And the math is obvious: violent crime fell from 2023 to 2024, yet the rhetoric insists the opposite, a manufactured crisis to ram through harsher penalties and broader surveillance. The death penalty is riddled with wrongful convictions, racial disparities, and unequal representation; treating it as a universal fix is a fantasy sold to donors and political bases. Real safety comes from prevention, investment in communities, good policing with accountability, and a justice system that protects the innocent, not from a propaganda-powered race to the gallows. This isn’t about justice; it’s about power, control, and keeping the fear engine running.