The order shows the president’s desire for more executions. But it’s unclear how the administration will carry out its plans, legal experts say.

Though Trump is unable to put the commuted inmates back on death row, he did ask the attorney general in the order to “take all lawful and appropriate action to ensure that these offenders are imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”

The newly inaugurated president's directive fulfills a key part of Project 2025's right-wing mandate for his administration.