When Donald Trump walked back into the Oval Office in January 2025, he didn’t waste any time. On his very first day, he signed an executive order titled "Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety." It was a massive signal to the country that the "pause button" on federal executions was officially smashed. If you've been following the news, you know the donald trump death penalty stance isn't exactly a secret, but the speed and scale of what's happening now in 2026 is catching some people off guard.
Honestly, it's a total 180 from the Biden years.
Just before leaving office in late 2024, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 people on federal death row. He basically cleared the deck. Trump’s new administration, led at the Department of Justice by Attorney General Pam Bondi, is now looking for every legal loophole to undo those commutations or at least ensure those individuals face state-level capital charges where possible. It’s aggressive. It’s controversial. And it’s exactly what he promised on the campaign trail.
The 2025 Executive Order and the "Bondi Blitz"
The core of the current donald trump death penalty strategy is about federal jurisdiction. Trump isn’t just waiting for cases to come to him; he’s directing the DOJ to go out and find them. His January 20, 2025, order specifically mandates that federal prosecutors seek the death penalty for two specific groups: anyone who kills a law enforcement officer and any "illegal alien" who commits a capital crime.
Pam Bondi wasted no time. By February 5, 2025, she officially lifted the moratorium that had been in place since 2021.
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The DOJ is currently reviewing over 1,400 past decisions where previous prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty. They call it "consistency." Critics call it a "spree."
Expanding the List of Crimes
It isn't just about murder anymore. Trump has been very vocal about wanting the ultimate penalty for drug traffickers and human smugglers. He’s pointed to countries like Singapore as a model. "If you kill one person, you get the death penalty," he’s said in various rallies. "But these drug dealers kill thousands with fentanyl and get a slap on the wrist."
There is a huge legal hurdle here, though. The Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008) that you can't execute someone for a crime where the victim didn't die. Trump’s administration is openly challenging this. They want the Court—which now has a solid conservative majority—to take another look at that precedent.
What happened during the first term?
To understand where we are in 2026, you have to look back at 2020. After a 17-year hiatus, the first Trump administration executed 13 people in just six months. It was the most federal executions under any president in over a century.
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They executed:
- Lisa Montgomery: The first woman executed by the feds in 67 years.
- Corey Johnson: A case that drew fire because of his documented intellectual disabilities.
- Dustin Higgs: The final execution of that term, carried out just days before Biden’s inauguration.
The "Terre Haute spree," as some lawyers call it, proved that the administration could move fast when the legal barriers were cleared. Now, they are trying to build a system that moves even faster.
The Battle Over Lethal Injection Drugs
One thing that people kinda forget is that it's actually hard to get the drugs needed for executions. Most pharmaceutical companies don't want their products used to kill people. It’s a PR nightmare for them.
Under the new 2025 policy, the Attorney General is required to ensure states have a "sufficient supply." This might mean using different drug combinations or even looking into alternative methods. There’s been talk of firing squads or nitrogen gas—which Alabama recently used—becoming more common if the drug supply stays dry.
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Real-World Legal Pushback
It’s not all smooth sailing for the administration. In 2025 and early 2026, several federal judges have already blocked attempts to retroactively seek the death penalty in cases where the "notice of intent" was filed too late.
For instance, a judge in Maryland recently called out the government for "willful blindness" to legal norms. You can't just flip a switch on a case that’s been non-capital for three years and suddenly demand an execution. The courts are saying there has to be due process.
Actionable Insights: What This Means for the Legal Landscape
If you are tracking the donald trump death penalty developments, here are the key areas to watch as 2026 progresses:
- Watch the Supreme Court Docket: Look for cases involving "crimes against the person" that don't result in death. If the Court agrees to hear a case involving a drug kingpin or a child trafficker, they might be getting ready to overturn Kennedy v. Louisiana.
- State vs. Federal Conflicts: Keep an eye on "Sanctuary Cities." The Trump administration is pressuring local DAs to bring capital charges. If a local DA refuses, the DOJ might try to take over the case under federal "carve-outs."
- The Commutation Fight: The legal status of the 37 people Biden "saved" is still being litigated. It’s a huge, messy constitutional question: Can a new president revoke a previous president's clemency? Most experts say no, but this administration is testing that theory in the lower courts right now.
- Method of Execution: Since drug companies are still resisting, watch for a federal shift toward "nitrogen hypoxia" or other methods that don't rely on FDA-regulated pharmaceuticals.
The reality is that the federal death row, which was almost empty a year ago, is starting to fill back up. The policy shift isn't just rhetoric; it’s a systematic rebuilding of the federal execution machine. Whether it holds up in the Supreme Court is the $100 million question for the rest of 2026.