Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly endorsed President Donald Trump‘s decision to block the livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution, sharing that he and the president see eye to eye on the matter. It’s the first time Hegseth has addressed the reversal of his own proposal since Trump scrapped the plan earlier this month.
Pete Hegseth backs Donald Trump’
Hegseth, speaking during his Arsenal of Freedom tour stop in Ohio and Wisconsin, made clear he holds no grudge over the rejected livestream idea. “I agree with the president, we spoke about it at length, positively,” he said when a reporter asked whether he felt disappointed.
“We both, you know, recognize that death by firing squad is what Nidal Hasan, a terrorist, a traitor, deserves. He will get that. The families will observe it. And the point is there’s a deterrent effect to that also, which follows through whether it’s livestreamed or not. So, I fully support the president’s approach (via Newsweek).”
Trump had initially backed Hegseth’s push to air the execution publicly, then reversed course on Truth Social after bipartisan criticism.
The president wrote that Hasan remains “a very bad and evil man” who will still die by firing squad, but that “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.” Donald Trump added that victims’ immediate family members may attend in person if they wish.
The execution plan, which Trump approved, schedules Hasan to die December 3 at 1 p.m. at Fort Hood, Texas. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 in a 2009 rampage.
Opposition to the livestream crossed party lines. The brother of a slain soldier asked Trump to rethink the idea; Democrats uniformly rejected it, and several Republican lawmakers joined them. Vice President J.D. Vance also publicly raised doubts before Trump pulled the plug.
