Trump isn’t fully on board with Hegseth’s desire for livestream of firing squad execution: report

President Donald Trump is reportedly wavering on whether the military should broadcast the coming execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who carried out the 2009 Fort Hood attack. Axios reports that Trump has privately said the broadcast "might not happen," and that he has been polling allies after a wave of negative feedback, according to The Independent.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth opened the controversy by announcing that the public would be able to view Hasan's death by firing squad on December 3. Democrats and several Republicans condemned the idea, and multiple world leaders denounced it. No U.S. official has ever livestreamed a state-sanctioned killing. Sources told Axios that Trump wants Hasan humiliated but fears making him a martyr, and one questioned streaming the shooting of an aging man in a wheelchair. Hasan is 56 and was partly paralyzed when police shot him during the attack.

Trump has said he was not involved in the choice and will decide himself. Vice President JD Vance said he doubts it will happen and will not watch. An administration official told Axios the president probably will not authorize it. Hasan, convicted of 13 murders and 32 attempted murders, was sentenced to death in 2013.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →