Donald Trump Says He Will Make Final Decision About Whether or Not to Livestream Nidal Hasan’s Execution

NEED TO KNOW

• Donald Trump said he will make the decision about whether the execution of Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed

• “So I’ll make a decision, ultimately,” Trump told reporters on Oct. 10, one day after saying he “absolutely” approved the livestream

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended death by U.S. Army firing squad for Hasan, who killed 13 people in 2009

President Donald Trump says that “ultimately” he will make the decision about whether the firing squad execution of Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan will be broadcast live.

Days after U.S. officials announced the Pentagon’s plans to livestream Hasan’s execution, the president, 80, told reporters at the White House on Saturday, Oct. 10, that he will make the final call on the matter.

“There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it,” Trump told reporters Saturday. ” ‘Cause, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So I’ll make a decision, ultimately.”

“I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision,” he added.

Initially after Trump was asked about the people who have criticized the proposed livestream on Saturday, he described Hasan — who killed 13 and wounded 32 while opening fire at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in November 2009 — as a “vicious killer” who “killed 13 people in cold blood.”

The president’s latest remark on the controversial plans to livestream Hasan’s execution — which marks the first U.S. military execution in 65 years — comes just one day after Trump told reporters outside of the White House on Friday, Oct. 9, that he had approved the plans.

“Absolutely, I approved,” Trump said of the planned broadcast while leaving for a rally on Friday.

The same day, he also said at a White House event that Hasan will be getting “the death penalty through firing squad, and he deserves it.” During the same event, Trump also called Hasan “a maniac.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended death by U.S. Army firing squad for Hasan, a former major and Army psychiatrist, and Trump approved the plans, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced on X on Monday, Oct. 5.

Hegseth, 46, later announced on Thursday, Oct. 8, that the execution would be public, saying, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”

The decision to livestream the Fort Hood killer’s execution has drawn scrutiny from both sides of the aisle, including from a survivor of the 2009 shooting.

Alonzo Lunsford — who was shot in the head and stomach seven times by Hasan during the incident — told ABC News, “I don’t want this to be viewed upon as a spectacle, like a pay-per-view event, or like going to a basketball tournament.”

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Another survivor, Dayna Ferguson Roscoe — who was shot multiple times in the arm, shoulder and thigh — also spoke with ABC News, but did not take a strong stance on the live broadcast. She told the outlet, “I hadn’t really thought about if I agree with the decisions being made — but it doesn’t make a difference in what happens to him.”

If carried out, Hasan’s execution would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961, when 18-year-old private John Bennett was put to death after being convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl, according to CNN.

Hasan’s execution date is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, CNN reported, citing Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle.

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