President Donald Trump and his team are discussing whether to drop a plan to broadcast the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, after Trump reportedly learned privately that the Fort Hood shooter is paralyzed from the waist down, CNN reported.
According to two sources, Trump hadn’t known about Hasan’s condition. Hasan was shot by law enforcement during the 2009 rampage and relies on a wheelchair, a detail that made a public broadcast less appealing to the president, the sources said.
Trump also didn’t know ahead of time that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would announce the livestream and wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, the sources said. After Hegseth confirmed the plan on X on Thursday, Trump asked several advisers and allies what to do. Officials say he still strongly supports executing Hasan by firing squad — he just doesn’t want it to be public.
One source said Trump pays close attention to how things look on screen, which could push him to drop the broadcast. A Trump adviser said he has also heard concerns that a public execution could hand adversaries and terrorist groups a propaganda tool by portraying Hasan as a martyr.
The White House pointed CNN to Trump’s weekend remarks about weighing both options.
“There are two thoughts: Don’t show it and show it,” Trump said, adding he would make the call.
The Pentagon is reviewing whether to stream the entire event, a source said, and any broadcast would probably end before shots are fired. Hegseth’s office didn’t respond to questions about whether plans have changed.
The livestream idea drew bipartisan criticism, as well as a rebuke from the Army’s head of Catholic ministry, and caught many in the Pentagon and Army off guard, CNN has reported. The execution is set for December 3 at Fort Hood and would be the Army’s first of a soldier since World War II.
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