President Donald Trump said Monday he will instruct the Justice Department to seek the death penalty if Savannah Guthrie\u2019s missing mother is killed.<\/p>\n
During a brief phone interview with the New York Post, Trump warned that those responsible for the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie must release her unharmed or face \u201cvery, very severe \u2014 the most severe\u201d federal consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she is killed, I will be instructing the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty,\u201d Trump told the Post, underscoring his administration\u2019s hard-line stance on violent crime.<\/p>\n
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC \u201cToday\u201d co-host Savannah Guthrie, was abducted from her home outside Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n
The case has drawn national attention and prompted a massive multi-agency investigation involving local law enforcement and federal authorities.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s comments signal that the White House is prepared to pursue federal charges in the case, which is common in high-profile kidnappings, particularly when interstate activity or federal statutes are involved.<\/p>\n
Arizona has the death penalty, though executions have been infrequent in recent years. Of the 109 inmates currently on Arizona\u2019s death row, many have been there for decades.<\/p>\n
The state has carried out just two executions since 2022, following a nearly two-year pause ordered by the Democrat-led state government. That pause was lifted in late 2024.<\/p>\n
At the federal level, the use of capital punishment was significantly curtailed under former President Joe Biden, who commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has signaled it plans to move those inmates to a federal supermax facility to serve out their sentences under strict conditions.<\/p>\n
Trump has long advocated for tougher penalties in cases involving violent offenders, particularly crimes against children and the elderly.<\/p>\n
His remarks Monday reinforce that message, as the investigation into Nancy Guthrie\u2019s disappearance continues.<\/p>\n
Law enforcement officials have not yet announced any arrests, but authorities have released surveillance images and are pursuing multiple leads.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump said Monday he will instruct the Justice Department to seek the death penalty if Savannah Guthrie\u2019s missing mother is killed. During a brief phone interview with the New York Post, Trump warned that those responsible for the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie must release her unharmed or face \u201cvery, very severe \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t