President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance provided differing statements on Friday, October 9, 2026, regarding a Pentagon proposal to livestream the December 3 execution of former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan. A Yahoo News report stated that Trump said, "Absolutely, I approved," when asked about the livestream, while Reuters reported that Trump said he had not yet determined whether to allow the feed. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who confirmed the livestream plans on Thursday, October 8, said the broadcast would show that there are "serious consequences" for such actions.
Hasan was convicted in a military trial for the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, which resulted in 13 deaths and 32 injuries. Hasan stated during his 2013 trial that he committed the act to stop what he called a U.S. war on Islam. The execution by firing squad is scheduled to take place at the same military installation where the shootings occurred.
Vice President Vance expressed skepticism about the livestream, stating he did not know if it would actually happen and that he would not watch it. Republican lawmakers including Senator John Curtis, Senator Thom Tillis, and Representative Austin Scott criticized the plan, with Tillis and Scott comparing public executions to methods used by extremist groups. Senator Chris Murphy described the proposal as medieval. Religious leaders, including Archbishop Paul Coakley of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Walter Kim of the National Association of Evangelicals, and the United Nations human rights office also voiced opposition.
For the general public, the event represents a shift in how capital punishment is managed by the federal government. Legal experts and mental health professionals cited in reports noted the potential for public trauma, while former counterterrorism official Joe Kent suggested the broadcast could serve as propaganda for militant groups. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr stated that the event would likely not air on broadcast television, though he would defer to Hegseth on whether private networks could carry the feed.
The execution is scheduled for December 3. The Pentagon has not yet determined the specific protocols for the firing squad or whether victims' families will be invited to attend. In the interim, the White House continues to receive feedback from religious leaders and lawmakers urging a reversal of the livestream decision. Previous court rulings have generally rejected media requests for broader public access to executions.