In the world we live in, we have presidents morally and ethically both good and bad. Every president holds a dark side, and I believe President Donald J. Trump’s dark side is by far the worst of them all.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump stated that he would bring back federal executions and work to expand the number of crimes that are eligible for capital punishment under federal law, which allows for the death penalty for crimes like murder. Trump executed more federal prisoners than the past six presidents. Trump’s Department of Justice ordered the execution of thirteen federal prisoners during Trump’s term when federal executions resumed after a long pause. These took place between July 2020 and January 16, 2021 — just before Trump left office
Many people asked former President Joe Biden to commute the death sentences of those on death row in Terre Haute, Indiana, to life without parole, believing it would decrease efforts from the Trump administration to execute them. Executive Director of The Death Penalty Information Center Robin Maher talked about resuming the killings, “Doing so will acknowledge longstanding concerns about the problematic way the federal death penalty is being used and make good on his campaign promise.”
The federal government and the US military both retain the death penalty as do six out of the twenty-seven states, although executions were paused by executive action. Executions by the US government have for decades been rare, despite the executions carried out under Trump, only three had been recorded since 1988, when Congress reinstated the punishment.
Many American adults continue to support capital punishment, with results being released weeks later that 53% off those polled supported the death penalty for convicted murderers. When Biden took office, death penalty critics hoped he would live up to his campaign’s stated desire to work with Congress to abolish capital punishment at the federal level, but he failed.
During Donald Trump’s first term, he committed thirteen federal executions, which occurred in the final six months of his presidency. In his second term his administration has not yet carried out any executions.
