Trump Calls for Mandatory Death Penalty for Convicted Cop Killers

The president honored a slain NYPD officer and his widow, while urging lawmakers to follow up on his executive order requiring the death penalty for those convicted of killing police officers.

Source Officer.com News

Joe Vince

March 5, 2025

2 min read

While honoring a slain NYPD officer during his address to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump called on lawmakers to follow up on an executive order he signed that night that would make the death penalty mandatory for those convicted of killing law enforcement officers.

“I have already signed an executive order requiring a mandatory death penalty for anyone who murders a police officer, and tonight I’m asking Congress to pass that policy into permanent law,” he said during his address.

Before urging legislators to act on his order, Trump honored NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed on duty March 25. He was conducting a traffic stop when he was fatally shot.

“He was gunned down. I went to his funeral last year. The murderer had 21 prior arrests on different charges. He was a bad one. When I met Diller’s widow, Stephanie, and son, Ryan, it was really inspirational. Thank you very much," Trump said while addressing the Congress.

Diller's widow, Stephanie, was in attendance at the address, and she received an ovation from attendees.

“Stephanie, we are going to make sure that Ryan knows his dad is a true hero. And we are going to get these criminals off our streets. We need to stop it. It’s time now," said Trump.

About the Author

Joe Vince

Joining Endeavor Business Media in 2018, Joe has worked on the company's city services publications. He began working at OFFICER.com as the assistant editor. Before starting at Endeavor, Joe had worked for a variety of print and online news outlets, including the Indianapolis Star, the South Bend Tribune, Reddit and Patch.com.