Trump’s Death Penalty Revival: A Precursor to Project 2025’s Dark Vision?
The Return of Federal Executions and a Theocratic Crusade
After slightly more than two weeks in office, Donald Trump reinstated the federal death penalty under Executive Order 14164, “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety.”
His directive to the Justice Department on February 5, 2025, sought capital punishment for a wider range of offenses, including crimes committed by undocumented immigrants and those involved in drug-related violence.
This alarming expansion of state-sanctioned killing is concerning on its own. However, when viewed in the context of Project 2025—which explicitly aims to criminalize LGBTQ+ existence, education, and healthcare—it reveals a troubling roadmap for persecution.
What’s even more troubling? Trump is pairing this crackdown with a full-scale theocratic offensive.
Religious Nationalism and State Violence: The Two-Pronged Attack
In a public speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Trump outlined several steps he planned to take to address what he called attacks on religious liberty, particularly concerning Christians.
Trump clarified his broader vision for America:
“While I’m in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals, and in our public squares,” Trump declared.
“And we will bring our country back together as one nation under God.”
To enforce this, Trump announced:
A Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty to “uphold this most fundamental right.
A thinly veiled plan to prioritize Christian nationalist policy across the government.
A task force, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.”
The vagueness of this directive allows prosecutorial targeting of any group or ideology that does not conform to their vision.
A White House Faith Office, led by Rev. Paula White
A known proponent of Christian dominionism—a belief that Christianity must control all aspects of government and society.
On the surface, these initiatives might appear to be standard conservative religious rhetoric. However, when they are combined with the authoritarian policy agenda of Project 2025, the intent becomes evident:
Theocratic rule enforced through state power, including the potential for criminalization and capital punishment.
How Project 2025 Lays the Groundwork for Persecution
The Project 2025 blueprint—crafted by Heritage Foundation, the Claremont Institute, and other far-right groups—doesn’t just prioritize Christianity. It weaponizes government power against those who do not conform.
Project 2025 calls for:
The criminalization of LGBTQ+ existence.
They label any acknowledgment of LGBTQ+ people in schools as “pornography” and demand that teachers and librarians be prosecuted as sex offenders.
They brand gender-affirming care as “child abuse” and “mutilation”—paving the way for legal action against doctors, parents, and trans individuals themselves.
The removal of civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ people, women, and minorities.
They demand the reversal of Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students.
They seek to gut Title VII workplace discrimination protections, making it easier for employers to fire LGBTQ+ workers or deny them healthcare.
A legal framework that could justify capital punishment for these so-called crimes.
Project 2025’s official platform describes LGBTQ+ education, healthcare, and public existence as “corruption of minors” and “crimes against society.”
They categorize gender-affirming healthcare providers as criminals, establishing a dangerous precedent that could intensify under Trump’s revived death penalty framework.
Project 2025’s own words make the intent clear:
"Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, is not a political Gordian knot… It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators… They should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders."
This isn’t just about book bans. This is explicit criminalization—with clear language advocating for state prosecution and imprisonment.
Death Penalty Expansion + Religious Extremism = Theocratic Authoritarianism
Trump’s expansion of the federal death penalty is not an isolated policy shift. When coupled with his explicit push for Christian supremacy, it creates a framework for a government that imposes religious doctrine through state-sanctioned violence.
We’ve seen this before in history:
Authoritarian states are using “moral purity” laws to justify persecution.
Theocratic regimes are employing “blasphemy” charges to criminalize dissent.
Totalitarian governments are escalating from imprisonment to executions—always claiming it’s in the name of “public safety” or “moral order.”
Project 2025 has provided Trump with a detailed guide on how to implement similar strategies in America. This document is not merely another right-wing policy paper; it serves as a manifesto advocating for state violence motivated by religious beliefs.
The question is no longer if they will escalate.
What Can Be Done?
Raise awareness—most Americans don’t realize how far-reaching Project 2025’s agenda really is.
Resist normalization—this isn’t just another conservative administration. This is a movement intent on criminalizing an entire group of people.
Support organizations fighting for civil rights and secular governance.
Prepare for legal battles—courts will be one of the last lines of defense against this authoritarian push.
Stay vigilant—state power is being consolidated rapidly, and resistance must be equally relentless.
This isn’t just an attack on LGBTQ+ rights. This is an attack on democracy itself.