Trump calls off livestream of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan’s firing squad execution

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has called off plans to livestream the execution of former US army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan by firing squad.

Trump had previously said he approved livestreaming of the Fort Hood attacker’s execution by the firing squad, but Vice-President JD Vance said he would not watch it and cast doubt on whether it would happen.

After criticism mounted, Trump said in a post on Thursday that “many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die through streaming, or through any other visual device”.

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“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” the president added.

Hasan had fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at a military base in Texas in 2009, while injuring 32 others. His execution by firing squad would be the first military execution in more than 60 years.

The president added that the immediate families of the victims will be able to watch the execution in person, if they wish so.

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As per reports, as the debate progressed on whether to call off plans to livestream the execution, Trump said privately that he did not initially know that Hasan was paralysed from the waist down.

The president was not aware that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that the administration planned to let the public watch the execution. Trump, however, firmly backed the decision to execute Hasan by the firing squad.

The idea of the firing squad execution livestreaming was pitched last week by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) warned that the footage of the execution could become a “recruiting tool for future terrorists.”