--- title: Trump Adviser Regrets Phrasing of 'Firing Squad' Comment description: Donald Trump's adviser on veterans issues said he regrets the way he phrased his comment that Hillary Clinton should be "shot for treason" canonical: https://time.com/4469053/donald-trump-al-baldasaro-regret-hillary-clinton/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-26T21:15:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:43.304Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Adviser Regrets the Way He Said Clinton Should Be ‘Shot for Treason’ og:description: “I mean, I regret saying it the way I did" og:url: https://time.com/4469053/donald-trump-al-baldasaro-regret-hillary-clinton/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ad00cbb5128ab64/6988a3e6ab6d7797986ab0a8/al-baldasaro-trump-treason.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Press Conference At Trump Tower og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Adviser Regrets the Way He Said Clinton Should Be ‘Shot for Treason’ twitter:description: “I mean, I regret saying it the way I did" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ad00cbb5128ab64/6988a3e6ab6d7797986ab0a8/al-baldasaro-trump-treason.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Adviser Regrets the Way He Said Hillary Clinton Should Be ‘Shot for Treason’ > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=44b4b031-25d8-4336-9b31-037591638aca&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 26, 2016 9:15 PM UTC  Former Marine Al Baldasaro defends the donations of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a news conference at Trump Tower where Trump addressed issues about the money he pledged to donate to veterans groups on May 31, 2016 in New York City. Former Marine Al Baldasaro defends the donations of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a news conference at Trump Tower where Trump addressed issues about the money he pledged to donate to veterans groups on May 31, 2016 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 26, 2016 9:15 PM UTC Donald Trump’s adviser on veterans issues [said Friday](https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/trump-adviser-regrets-clinton-firing-squad-phrasing-thanks-t?bftwnews&utm%5Fterm=.eeGJkgX48#.bngG0aZvJ) that he regrets the way he phrased his [comment](http://time.com/4416142/secret-service-investigating-al-baldasaro-hillary-clinton/) that Hillary Clinton should be “shot for treason.” “I mean, I regret saying it the way I did,” New Hampshire state Rep. Al Baldasaro said in an [interview with BuzzFeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/trump-adviser-regrets-clinton-firing-squad-phrasing-thanks-t?bftwnews&utm%5Fterm=.eeGJkgX48#.bngG0aZvJ). “It’s a shame because I should have spoke out and said she’s got to be found guilty. We’re a country of laws—for treason. I used the word ‘should be,’ and the liberal media took it and ran with it.” Baldasaro, a veteran, doubled down on the “treason” comment in multiple interviews last month, arguing that Clinton’s use of a private email server as Secretary of State endangered American lives and qualifies as treason. In an interview last week, Baldasaro said his words had been taken out of context, and he said he did not want Clinton to be assassinated. “The liberal media took what I said and went against the law and the Constitution and ran with it, and they said that I wanted her assassinated, which I never did,” Baldasaro said in an [interview with the Springfield _Republican_/MassLive.com](http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/08/trump%5Fadviser%5Fal%5Fbaldasaro%5Fhil.html) on Aug. 16\. “I said I spoke as a veteran, and she should be shot in a firing squad for treason.” The U.S. Secret Service said it was investigating Baldasaro after his original comments. At the time, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks distanced the campaign from the comments, saying “Mr. Trump and the campaign do not agree” that Clinton should be executed. Baldasaro told BuzzFeed he had never spoken to Trump about his views, but he told the _Republican_ that he had, in fact, spoken to Trump. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4469053/donald-trump-al-baldasaro-regret-hillary-clinton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4469053/donald-trump-al-baldasaro-regret-hillary-clinton/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Adviser Regrets the Way He Said Hillary Clinton Should Be ‘Shot for Treason’","datePublished":"2016-08-26T21:15:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:43.304Z","description":"“I mean, I regret saying it the way I did\"","url":"https://time.com/4469053/donald-trump-al-baldasaro-regret-hillary-clinton/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","new hampshire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ad00cbb5128ab64/6988a3e6ab6d7797986ab0a8/al-baldasaro-trump-treason.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ad00cbb5128ab64/6988a3e6ab6d7797986ab0a8/al-baldasaro-trump-treason.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Press Conference At Trump Tower","caption":"Donald Trump Holds Press Conference At Trump Tower","creditText":"Spencer Platt/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4469053/donald-trump-al-baldasaro-regret-hillary-clinton/","name":"Donald Trump Adviser Regrets the Way He Said Hillary Clinton Should Be ‘Shot for Treason’"}}]}] ```