--- title: Trump Wants Death Penalty For All Murder Cases in D.C. | TIME description: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his Administration will move to reinstate the death penalty in all murder cases in Washington, D.C., his latest effort to crack down on crime and exert more federal control over the nation’s capital. The announcement came without detailed guidance on how it would be carried out. The last execution in the District of Columbia took place in 1957. Most homicides in Washington, D.C. are charged under the local criminal code and tried in D.C. Superior Court, where capital punishment is not authorized. The District’s elected leaders abolished the death penalty in 1981, and residents rejected restoring it in a 1992 referendum by a wide margin. canonical: https://time.com/video/wjgevIGQ/ og:title: Trump Wants Death Penalty For All Murder Cases in D.C. og:description: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his Administration will move to reinstate the death penalty in all murder cases in Washington, D.C., his latest effort to crack down on crime and exert more federal control over the nation’s capital. The announcement came without detailed guidance on how it would be carried out. The last execution in the District of Columbia took place in 1957. Most homicides in Washington, D.C. are charged under the local criminal code and tried in D.C. Superior Court, where capital punishment is not authorized. The District’s elected leaders abolished the death penalty in 1981, and residents rejected restoring it in a 1992 referendum by a wide margin. og:url: https://time.com/video/wjgevIGQ/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wjgevIGQ/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Wants Death Penalty For All Murder Cases in D.C. twitter:description: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his Administration will move to reinstate the death penalty in all murder cases in Washington, D.C., his latest effort to crack down on crime and exert more federal control over the nation’s capital. The announcement came without detailed guidance on how it would be carried out. The last execution in the District of Columbia took place in 1957. Most homicides in Washington, D.C. are charged under the local criminal code and tried in D.C. Superior Court, where capital punishment is not authorized. The District’s elected leaders abolished the death penalty in 1981, and residents rejected restoring it in a 1992 referendum by a wide margin. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wjgevIGQ/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * Politics # Trump Wants Death Penalty For All Murder Cases in D.C. > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Trump Wants Death Penalty For All Murder Cases in D.C. [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Wants Death Penalty For All Murder Cases in D.C.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wjgevIGQ.m3u8) (0:47)  _Published 2025-08-26. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his Administration will move to reinstate the death penalty in all murder cases in Washington, D.C., his latest effort to crack down on crime and exert more federal control over the nation’s capital. The announcement came without detailed guidance on how it would be carried out. The last execution in the District of Columbia took place in 1957. Most homicides in Washington, D.C. are charged under the local criminal code and tried in D.C. Superior Court, where capital punishment is not authorized. The District’s elected leaders abolished the death penalty in 1981, and residents rejected restoring it in a 1992 referendum by a wide margin._ --- Aug 26, 2025 10:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Protests Continue Over the Death of George Floyd in Washington, D.C.](/video/8Q77wZzg/) ### Protests Continue Over the Death of George Floyd in Washington, D.C. [Trump Opens Hotel in Washington D.C.](/video/eq7JzVGI/) ### Trump Opens Hotel in Washington D.C. [Washington D.C. Justice For All March](/video/C8zJUQwx/) ### Washington D.C. Justice For All March --- ## Transcript Anybody murdered something in the capital. Capital punishment. Capital. Capital punishment. If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we're going to be seeking the death penalty. And that's a very strong preventative. And everybody that's heard it agrees with it. I don't know if we're ready for it in this country, but will you have it if it is. We have no choice. So in D.C., in Washington, states are going to have to make their own decision. But if somebody kills somebody, like you could have been killed. Very lucky you didn't get killed. It's the death penalty. Okay. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Wants Death Penalty For All Murder Cases in D.C.","description":"President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his Administration will move to reinstate the death penalty in all murder cases in Washington, D.C., his latest effort to crack down on crime and exert more federal control over the nation’s capital.\n\nThe announcement came without detailed guidance on how it would be carried out. The last execution in the District of Columbia took place in 1957. Most homicides in Washington, D.C. are charged under the local criminal code and tried in D.C. Superior Court, where capital punishment is not authorized. 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