Overview

• Trump announced the directive during a Cabinet meeting, calling executions a strong deterrent to homicide in the nation’s capital.
• Washington, D.C. abolished capital punishment decades ago, leaving questions over whether prosecutors would rely on federal charges or seek congressional action to change local law.
• Mandatory death sentences are unconstitutional, further complicating any plan to apply a blanket policy across local murder cases.
• The administration has already asserted federal control over D.C.’s police and deployed the National Guard, positioning the move within a broader public-safety push.
• Legal experts warn capital prosecutions are costly, lengthy and could strain the local justice system, even as reported violent crime in D.C. has declined in recent years.