President Donald Trump is demanding the death penalty for all murders in Washington, D.C. despite capital punishment being banned in the capital more than 40 years ago.
The president made his declaration during a rambling Cabinet meeting on Tuesday as his administration carried out its crime crackdown in the nation’s capital with the deployment of the National Guard.
“Anybody murders something in the capital, capital punishment,” Trump said randomly in the middle of the meeting. “If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty.”
The declaration is likely to ruffle feathers in the nation’s capital further, as capital punishment faces a unique situation in the city.
Washington formally repealed the death penalty law in 1981. In 1992, D.C. residents voted against reinstating it in a referendum ordered by Congress.
However, while D.C. has banned the death penalty, federal prosecutors can still push for capital punishment for certain federal crimes, as the District is subject to congressional oversight.
The president said that states would have to make their own decisions, but he wanted capital punishment in D.C. for all murders.
“We have no choice,” Trump declared.
The last time D.C. executed someone was in 1957.
The president’s announcement was his latest attempt at power-grabbing in the district, following the federalization of the metropolitan police more than two weeks ago and his deployment of the National Guard.
Trump has declared the militarization of D.C. a great success. He and other members of his administration have highlighted that the nation’s capital has had no homicides for twelve days. The president has claimed that has not happened in years, but there were two other seven or more day stretches this year alone where there were no recorded homicides.
Local leaders have argued that crime has been on the decline since its recent peak in Washington, D.C. in 2023. The Trump administration has dismissed crime data from the Metropolitan Police Department as false.
More than 2,000 members of the National Guard have been deployed to the nation’s capital since Trump’s announcement.
The president has suggested that he would bypass Congress if necessary to continue his takeover of Washington, D.C., and declare a national emergency.
But Trump has also signaled he wants to deploy the National Guard to other U.S. cities going forward.
The president on Friday specifically floated Chicago as his next target as he argues crime in the deep blue city is out of control. He also suggested deploying troops to New York and Baltimore.
“I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States,” Trump declared on Tuesday while discussing Chicago. “If I think our country is in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can do it.”
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