Trump Drops Plan to Livestream Fort Hood Shooter's Execution After Backlash

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, will not be streamed to the public. The decision reverses a plan the Pentagon announced only last week. The execution itself is unchanged: Hasan is still set to face an Army firing squad on December 3.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Hasan "will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed." He added that immediate family members of the people killed in the attack may watch in person if they choose.

A sharp U-turn in a week

The livestream idea came from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said in an interview last week that the execution would be "public" so that Americans could see the consequences of terrorism. Trump had initially said he "absolutely" supported the idea.

In Thursday's post, Trump kept part of that argument. He wrote that broadcasting the execution might have been a strong deterrent and a message to the world about how the United States treats terrorists. But he said many well-meaning people would rather not watch a man die on a screen. He also used the post to blame the Obama administration for what he called an intelligence failure before the 2009 shooting.

Under the current schedule, the execution will take place at 1 pm Central Time at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. That matches the time of day the shooting began 17 years ago.

Why the plan ran into trouble

Opposition came from several directions. Lawmakers condemned the idea, including members of Trump's own Republican Party. Legal experts said a live broadcast could clash with US rules on sending graphic or indecent material, and that there would be no reliable way to keep children from seeing it. Security analysts warned that footage of Hasan's death could become propaganda: a recruiting tool for extremist groups, or something that turns the gunman into a figure to copy.

Public opinion pointed the same way. An ABC News, Washington Post and Ipsos poll found that about four in five Americans opposed livestreaming the execution. The gap between parties was large, but majorities opposed it in every group: 64% of Republicans, 83% of independents and 91% of Democrats.

A broadcast would have been the first public execution in the United States since 1936. Because successive US governments have criticised other countries for public executions, the plan raised diplomatic as well as legal questions.

What happens next

Dropping the livestream removes the most contested part of the plan, but other issues remain. Military executions are extremely rare: the US armed forces have not put anyone to death since 1961. Questions are still open over religious accommodation for Hasan, which soldiers will take part in the firing squad, and whether any further court review will take place. Hasan could still bring a new legal challenge to try to delay the December date.

The reversal comes less than three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. Trump has been campaigning heavily on crime and national security, and the U-turn shows that even a tough-on-terror message has limits when voters in his own party push back.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.