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President Donald Trump said Monday he will direct the Justice Department to seek capital punishment if the missing mother of TV host Savannah Guthrie is killed, escalating the situation surrounding a high-profile kidnapping case in Arizona.
During a brief phone interview with the New York Post, the president said those responsible for the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie must release her safely or face what he described as the harshest federal penalties.
“If she is killed, I will be instructing the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty,” President Trump told the Post, adding that offenders would face “very, very severe — the most severe” consequences.
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, was abducted Feb. 1 from her home outside Tucson, Arizona, according to authorities. The disappearance has drawn national attention and triggered a broad investigation involving local and federal law enforcement agencies.
President Trump’s remarks suggest the White House is prepared to pursue federal charges if applicable, a path often considered in major kidnapping cases when interstate activity or federal statutes are involved.
Arizona permits capital punishment, though executions have been carried out infrequently in recent years. State records show 109 inmates currently on death row, many of whom have been there for decades. Arizona has executed two people since 2022, after a pause of nearly two years that was lifted in late 2024.
At the federal level, the use of the death penalty declined during former President Joe Biden’s administration. Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row, leaving a limited number of active federal capital cases.
The Trump administration has indicated it intends to move those inmates to a federal supermax facility to serve their sentences under strict confinement.
President Trump has frequently called for stronger penalties in violent crime cases, particularly those involving children and older adults. His comments on Monday continue that emphasis as the search for Nancy Guthrie remains ongoing.
Investigators have not announced any arrests. Authorities say they have released surveillance images and are pursuing several leads as the investigation continues.