Trump says he will 'ultimately make decision' on Fort Hood shooter execution livestream

This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. President Trump said he will "make a decision ultimately" on whether to livestream the execution by firing squad of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan following GOP backlash. "He's a vicious killer, killed 13 people in cold blood, wounded over 20. Some of those people will never have their lives back in a true sense," Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn on Saturday. "He was vicious. He was violent." "There are two thoughts: don't show it and show it, because you know by showing it, maybe other people won't be doing what he did," the president continued. "So I'll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we'll make a decision." Trump's remarks come after he said on Friday that "they're making a determination about" the decision to livestream Hasan's death "but he will be killed, it will be through firing squad." "So, I really don't care how he goes, as long as he goes, and I think that the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him," Trump stated. A White House spokesperson confirmed earlier this week that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "recommended" Hasan's execution be carried out by firing squad on Dec. 3, and President Trump "approved" it. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire at the Fort Hood processing center in November 2009, killing 12 soldiers and one civilian. He injured 32 others in what was the deadliest mass shooting ever on a U. S. military installation. During his 2013 trial, Hasan acted as his own attorney, saying in his opening statement, that the "evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter," adding that he carried out the mass shooting in response to the U. S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Vice President J. D. Vance told reporters Friday that he will not be watching the execution should it be livestreamed, even stating, "I don't know that that's actually going to happen." If Hasan is executed in December, it will be the military's first execution in six decades. The plan to livestream it drew fierce criticism from Republicans and Democrats. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.