Trump rules out livestream of Fort Hood shooter's execution

President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States will not broadcast the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan.

Hasan, a former U.S. Army major convicted of killing 13 people at the Fort Hood military base, is still scheduled to die by firing squad on Dec. 3. There will be no livestream, Trump said, Variety.

The decision reverses a plan outlined last week by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth had said the execution would be shown live.

Trump said the execution would go ahead as scheduled, without cameras. He said the immediate families of the victims could watch in person if they chose to do so.

Hasan was convicted over the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood in which 13 people were killed, Reuters. He has remained on military death row since his conviction. The Dec. 3 date would make his the first U.S. military execution carried out by firing squad under the current authorisation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not watch the execution. He made the comment after Trump confirmed the livestream had been cancelled.

Vice President JD Vance had earlier said he would not watch a livestream. He made that remark last week while Hegseth's broadcast plan was still in place, before Trump's reversal.

That earlier proposal had raised questions about public access to a military execution. The Pentagon had not released details of how a broadcast would have worked, or who would have been able to view it.

With Trump's statement, the plan is now off. The execution will proceed in person, with attendance limited to authorised witnesses including victims' families who wish to attend.