President Donald J. Trump
The White House
Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Directs the Enforcement of Death Penalty Laws in the District of Columbia

The White House

DETERRING AND PUNISHING HEINOUS CRIMES: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to fully enforce Federal capital punishment laws to deter and punish the most heinous crimes in our Nation’s capital.

  • The Order directs these Federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in all appropriate cases in the District of Columbia where the evidence and applicable facts justify such a sentence.
  • It directs the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to pursue Federal jurisdiction to the maximum extent practicable for death-penalty-eligible crimes in Washington, D.C.

PROTECTING PUBLIC SAFETY: By enforcing the death penalty law against D.C.’s worst offenders, President Trump underscores his determination to protect our Nation’s capital for all Americans who visit and reside there and ensure violent criminals face the toughest consequences under law.

  • Enforcing Federal capital punishment—despite efforts by some politicians, lawyers, and non-governmental organizations to oppose it—has been a priority for President Trump, who signed Executive Order 14164 to restore proper enforcement of the federal death penalty on Day One.
  • Today’s Memorandum builds on this Order, directing the use of capital punishment in our Nation’s capital as a critical tool for protecting public safety, ensuring the worst criminals receive the worst punishment.
  • The District of Columbia’s lenient policies in recent years has fueled a crime emergency, endangering residents, visitors, and Federal operations.
  • Washington, D.C. has been among the Nation’s most dangerous cities—with a homicide rate of 27.3 per 100,000 residents in 2024.
    • That was the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country—nearly six times higher than New York City and also higher than Atlanta, Chicago, and Compton.

MAKING OUR NATION’S CAPITAL SAFE AGAIN: President Trump campaigned on the promise to make America safe again and restore Washington, D.C. to glory.

  • On President Trump’s first return to Washington since leaving office in 2021, he lamented “the filth and the decay” that marred the Nation’s capital in his absence.
  • President Trump later promised that his Administration would “take over the horribly run capital of our nation, Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it, and rebuild our capital city so that it is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime, but rather it will become the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world.”
  • In March, President Trump created a task force to make D.C. safe and beautiful, surging law enforcement to restore order and enhance the city’s infrastructure.
  • In August, President Trump mobilized the National Guard and utilized Section 740 of the Home Rule Act to restore law and order in the District of Columbia.
  • In late August, President Trump signed an Executive Order taking steps to ensure that cashless bail in Washington, D.C. is eliminated.