Trump Shares Dallas Pastor’s Support for Pentagon Plan to Publicly Execute Fort Hood Shooter
Trump posts link to report that Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, backs the planned public execution and livestream of Nidal Hasan's firing squad.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump shared a report that Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor of the 16,000-member First Baptist Dallas, supports the Pentagon’s plan to publicly execute Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad on December 3.
The post linked to a Dallas Morning News article detailing Jeffress’ endorsement of both the execution and plans to livestream it. Trump mentioned the source (see dallasnews). Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on whether the livestream will actually occur, according to dallasnews.
“Capital punishment is commanded by God in Genesis 9:6 to remind people of the sanctity of human life,” Jeffress said, according to dallasnews. “The more people that can see that truth illustrated through a public execution, the better.”
The post places Trump squarely behind Jeffress’ position at a moment when the planned broadcast has split evangelical Christians, Catholic bishops, and shooting survivors.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “ Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, says he supports public execution announced by the Pentagon: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/article/robert-jeffress-death-penalty-22470214.php” on October 10, 2026 at 10:42 AM ET.
This is Trump’s 17th message released today, and the last post was 1 hour ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 15 of his 537 posts over the last 30 days classified as Legal posts.
The Army announced that the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan would take place at Fort Hood on December 3, according to dallasnews. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, killed 13 people and injured 32 others in a shooting at the base on November 5, 2009, according to cbsnews. Witnesses said he shouted “Allahu Akbar” before firing more than 140 rounds at soldiers preparing for deployment, according to cbsnews.
President Donald J. Trump shares a post at WASHINGTON D.C.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to livestream the execution, scheduled for 1 p.m. on December 3 at Fort Hood. “He’s gonna get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be,” Hegseth said, according to cbsnews. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public — because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
Jeffress, a Fox News contributor and longtime Trump supporter, further quoted the Book of Genesis in an interview with the Dallas Morning News. “God was saying life is so sacred, it is a gift from me, that anyone who takes it needs to suffer the ultimate penalty,” Jeffress said, according to dallasnews. “Capital punishment for society isn’t God’s suggestion; it’s God’s command.” He said he would likely watch the execution.
Other religious voices pushed back sharply. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the announcement, according to dallasnews. D. Stephen Long, a professor of ethics at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology, called it a troubling development. “I see it as a recovery of a kind of vicious theology,” Long said, according to dallasnews. “It’s part of an almost sociopathic view of God that delights in death and destruction and harm.”
Fort Hood shooting survivors and victims’ families remain divided over whether to witness the execution, according to cbsnews. Former Army Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times in the attack, wants to face Hasan but opposes the livestream plan, according to cbsnews.
No execution has been broadcast in the United States, and the practice is rare worldwide, according to dallasnews. The last state-sanctioned public execution in the country took place in Kentucky in 1936, according to dallasnews. A livestream would make a government killing viewable on personal devices in homes, schools, and workplaces, raising questions about content regulation that federal agencies have not yet addressed.
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President Trump is the author of Trump: The Art of the Deal, Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate, and Life, and Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life. Analyst and Trump supporter Rod Martin points to The Art of the Deal, Trump's 1987 book, as an explanation of his deal-making philosophy: making big announcements, pivoting often in public statements and, Martin says, ultimately getting what he wanted all along. Critics contend that Trump's books were published decades ago or were aimed at making money, not shedding light. "Generally," Martin said, "critics don't read The Art of the Deal. If they did, they would understand."