U.S. President Donald Trump. EPA=Yonhap News. 

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 25th (local time) that anyone who commits murder in the nation's capital, Washington D.C., will face the death penalty.

After signing a memorandum to this effect in the Oval Office, President Trump stated, "This applies to anyone who kills a person in Washington."

A White House official explained that the memorandum instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro to "fully implement the death penalty whenever the evidence and facts of a case indicate that it is warranted."

Attorney General Bondi, who joined the signing ceremony, said, "We are pursuing the death penalty not only in Washington but across the entire United States."

However, The New York Times (NYT) analyzed the memorandum by stating, "He signed a memorandum to revive the death penalty in Washington, which was abolished in the 1980s," adding, "It is unclear whether the president can actually reintroduce capital punishment in the district."

In addition, President Trump signed a memorandum directing the FBI to form a "National Joint Terrorism Task Force" to investigate and dismantle networks, groups, and organizations that incite political violence, including "Antifa," an anti-fascist and anti-racist left-wing movement.

President Trump pointed out, "We are looking into the financiers of these groups," adding, "They are professional anarchists and agitators. And they are hired by wealthy individuals."

He also mentioned George Soros, the hedge fund tycoon, by saying, "I've heard the name Soros," as someone who might be funding left-wing groups, and added, "I've heard names of some radical left-wing billionaires. Perhaps you've heard the name (LinkedIn co-founder) Reid Hoffman."

President Trump further commented, "I don't know. Maybe it's him (Hoffman). But they are bad, and we will find out," adding, "If they have funded these things (left-wing movements), they will have a problem."

Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, said of the memorandum, "It is the first time in American history that the government is utilizing its full strength to dismantle left-wing terrorism, Antifa, and groups that have perpetrated political violence and terror," and added, "We will now mobilize the full capacity of the federal government to root out these organizations entirely."

Yonhap News