Donald Trump has reportedly been expressing interest in bringing back firing squads, hangings, and “possibly even the guillotine,” according to Rolling Stone. The outlet cites a source familiar with the matter. The report comes after the former president called for the death penalty for all drug dealers during his 2024 campaign announcement.
“The [former] president believes this would help put the fear of God into violent criminals,” this source told Rolling Stone. “He wanted to do some of these [things] when he was in office, but for whatever reasons didn’t have the chance.” They added that Trump previously mused about creating a government-backed video-ad campaign to promote the idea of bringing back the execution methods.
Trump’s Campaign Announcement
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign denied that he considered a video-ad campaign. “More ridiculous and fake news from idiots who have no idea what they’re talking about,” the spokesman told the outlet in an email. “Either these people are fabricating lies out of thin air, or Rolling Stone is allowing themselves to be duped by these morons.”
When asked specifically about firing squads and other execution methods, the spokesperson referred to Trump’s aforementioned 2024 campaign announcement. “Every drug dealer during his or her life, on average, will kill 500 people with the drugs they sell, not to mention the destruction of families,” they said. “We’re going to be asking everyone who sells drugs, gets caught selling drugs, to receive the death penalty for their pain.”
In the announcement, Trump had said specifically that he will execute any drug dealer found guilty. “And they send the bullet to the family and they want the family to pay for the cost of the bullet,” Trump said at the rally. “If you want to stop the drug epidemic in this country, you better do that … [even if] it doesn’t sound nice.”
By the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, he had already proven his support for the death penalty. During the final months of his administration, he oversaw the executions of 13 federal prisoners. Since 1963, the government only executed three federal prisoners. It was also the first administration since the 1880s to put people to death during a lame-duck period.
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