President Trump said Tuesday that anyone who commits murder in Washington, D.C. will face capital murder charges.

“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Mr. Trump said in a Cabinet meeting. “That’s a very strong preventative. And everybody that’s heard it agrees with it. I don’t know if we’re ready for it in this country, but … we have no choice…States are going to have to make their own decision.”

The District does not have the death penalty; it was abolished in 1981 when the D.C. Council repealed it. The federal government can still seek the death penalty for those convicted of federal crimes within the District.

The last execution in Washington was in 1957. Mr. Trump did not explain how he intends to carry out his proposed policy in the District, which saw its first homicide Tuesday since the president ordered a federal takeover of its police department two weeks ago.

While most blue states have resisted bringing back the death penalty, the administration has ordered the Justice Department to help states that do use capital punishment, including helping them secure lethal injection drugs. The District was using the electric chair for executions before the death penalty was outlawed.

Mr. Trump has been pushing for bringing back the death penalty to the nation’s capital since his return in January.

He issued an executive order and instructed the Department of Justice to pump up the use of the federal death penalty.

This was a reversal from the moratorium on federal executions established by the Biden administration.

In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi officially lifted the Biden moratorium on federal executions. Additionally, the Justice Department has been instructed to seek the death penalty in all federal capital crime cases where a law enforcement officer is murdered, or if a capital crime is committed by an illegal immigrant, “regardless of other factors.”

Additionally, the Justice Department has been ordered to seek capital punishment for cartel violence, transnational criminal organizations, and certain drug-related crimes.

The Justice Department is also looking into past federal cases where the previous administration opted not to seek the death penalty and deciding whether capital charges should be tacked on.

• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.