Trump's Mixed Messages Over the Execution Livestream as Vance and Catholic Leaders Question the Plan

President Donald Trump has left plans to livestream the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood gunman Nidal Malik Hasan in doubt, after giving conflicting accounts over whether he approved the broadcast.

On Friday, 9 October, he appeared to back the move, then hours later said he had not been involved in the decision, before insisting on Saturday that he would ultimately decide if it went ahead.

Vice President JD Vance questioned whether the livestream would happen, while Catholic leaders criticised the proposed public showing. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had announced the broadcast ahead of Hasan's scheduled 3 December execution at Fort Hood. By Saturday, Trump said he would make the final decision on whether it proceeded.

The dispute concerns a former US Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood.

The US Army said Trump approved Hasan's death sentence on 2 October, following the completion of his appeals. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle directed the execution by firing squad on 6 October. That decision did not, by itself, clarify who authorised the separate plan to livestream it.

Trump's Execution Livestream Remarks Leave Pentagon Plan Unsettled

On 8 October, Hegseth said the execution would be publicly available to watch, arguing that people should understand the consequences of such crimes. The Pentagon confirmed the proposed broadcast. If the execution proceeds, it would be the first carried out by the US military since 1961.

Trump's Friday remarks gave a less settled picture. A reporter asked whether he had approved 'the execution, the live-stream execution', and Trump replied: 'Absolutely, I did.'

Later that day, Trump told WSTM-TV in Syracuse, New York: 'I wasn't involved in that decision, but I understand the decision.' He said officials wanted the execution to serve as an example, without claiming to have personally arranged its broadcast.

On Saturday, the president went further. 'There are two thoughts: don't show it, and show it,' he told reporters at the White House. 'I'll make a decision, ultimately.' His latest remarks left the Pentagon's previously announced livestream awaiting a final presidential decision.

Vance Questions Livestream as Republicans Criticise the Proposal

Vance, who is Catholic, said on Friday he was unsure whether the Pentagon would carry out its plan. 'I don't know that that's actually going to happen,' he told reporters. He also said he would not watch the livestream if it took place.

He did not announce opposition to Hasan's death sentence. Instead, he urged reporters to remember the victims of the Fort Hood attack, a distinction also made by Republican lawmakers who support capital punishment.

Senator Thom Tillis called public streaming 'Beyond disgusting', while Representative Austin Scott argued that livestreaming executions resembled the practices of extremists. Senator John Curtis urged Hegseth to reconsider, warning that turning executions into entertainment could undermine the solemnity of justice.

Survivors have also expressed differing views about making the footage public.

Former Army sergeant Alonzo Lunsford, who survived seven gunshot wounds, supports Hasan's execution by firing squad and wants to attend. He told BBC Radio that he opposed distributing uncensored footage for public viewing.

Catholic Leaders Condemn Execution Livestream as a Public Spectacle

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the Pentagon to reconsider its broadcasting decision. In an official statement, he called the proposed livestream 'a barbaric promotion of a culture of death'. He also stressed that Hasan's crimes could not be condoned.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, also addressed the plan directly. 'It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle,' he told journalists, according to Vatican News.

Parolin reaffirmed the Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty itself, a broader position than criticism of the broadcast alone.

Pope Leo XIV restated Catholic teaching that capital punishment is inadmissible in a message marking World Day Against the Death Penalty. His statement on X did not name Hasan or explicitly address the livestream.

The Army has scheduled Hasan's execution for 1pm Central time on 3 December at Fort Hood. No broadcasting platform has been publicly confirmed, and Trump's Saturday statement leaves the question of whether the public will be able to watch unresolved.

The Pentagon has not announced revised broadcasting arrangements following the president's remarks.

Lunsford intends to witness the execution in person, even though he objects to a general broadcast. He said in the interview that he wants Hasan to look him in the eye before the sentence is carried out. 'Dude, you failed, I'm still here,' he said, reflecting his determination to confront the man who shot him.