President Donald Trump and his advisers are debating whether to cancel plans to livestream the Fort Hood shooter’s firing squad execution, with Trump privately remarking that he did not initially know that Nidal Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down, two sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.
The president didn’t know that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had announced last week that the administration was considering letting the public watch the execution, the sources said, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. However, Trump was firmly behind the decision to execute Hasan by firing squad, several officials told CNN, and he often defended him in public.
And even after Hegseth posted on X on Thursday confirming that the Pentagon planned to livestream the execution, Trump questioned several of his advisers and allies about how to proceed.
It was during those conversations that Trump learned that Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down — he was shot in the back by law enforcement during the 2009 Ford Hood shooting — and now uses a wheelchair, the sources said, which made the public presentation of the execution less palatable to the president.
One of the sources close to the discussions pointed to Trump’s deep understanding of imagery as one of the main reasons he might decide to abandon live-streaming plans. The president also listened to the argument that a public execution by firing squad could serve as propaganda to incite foreign adversaries and terrorists to try to portray Hasan as a martyr, a Trump adviser told CNN.
The White House on Tuesday referred CNN to the president’s comments Saturday in which he acknowledged “two thoughts” on what to do and said he would make the final decision.
“He was vicious. He was violent,” Trump told reporters about Hasan over the weekend. “There are two ideas: Don’t show it and show it. Because, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t do what he did. So, I will make a decision at the end of the day. I know what the military would like to do, but we will make a decision.”
The Pentagon is also reassessing plans to fully livestream the execution, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Even if there is a broadcast of the event, the source said, it will likely be cut off before the shots are fired, partly out of fear that the moment could provide a propaganda opportunity for terrorist groups.
Hegseth’s office did not respond to further requests for comment on whether plans to livestream the execution had changed.
The plan to livestream the execution faced bipartisan backlash, and people in the Pentagon and military were caught off guard, CNN previously reported.
Trump told reporters Friday that he was not involved, but said, “I understand the decision,” adding that some people “want to set an example” by livestreaming the execution.
Hegseth had initially recommended death by firing squad for Hasan — who was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding dozens — and Trump approved it.
The execution, scheduled for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, would be the first such execution of a soldier by the U.S. military. since World War II and its first imposition of the death penalty on a member of the armed forces in 65 years.
A U.S.-born citizen of Palestinian descent, Hasan said he targeted the soldiers he was about to deploy with to Afghanistan and wanted to protect the Taliban and their leaders from the U.S. military.
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