WATCH: 'We're going to be seeking the death penalty' for murders in D.C., Trump says

Despite data points that do not show a connection between capital punishment and safer communities, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the federal government will seek the death penalty for murder in the District of Columbia.

“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “That’s a very strong preventative. 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.”

The president added that states “are going to have to make their own decision.”

Around two-dozen states and the District of Columbia do not carry out the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization that provides data and analysis on the issue.

The center noted last month that while deterrence is “one of the most com­mon­ly expressed rea­sons” for using the death penalty, the evidence shows that “states that impose the death penal­ty are not safer than states that do not use the death penal­ty.”

The president’s comments come as his administration has taken a larger role in public safety in the nation’s capital. Earlier this month, Trump federalized D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and deployed the National Guard across the city. Late last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized some National Guard troops to carry firearms while deployed in D.C.

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