WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday backed the Department of War’s decision to execute the Fort Hood mass shooter by firing squad — though Vice President JD Vance said he won’t watch a planned Pentagon livestream.

“We’re giving a man the death penalty who killed 14 soldiers a couple of years ago,” the president said Friday after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made waves by announcing the execution would be broadcast live on Dec. 3.

“Death penalty through firing squad — and, uh, and he deserves it. Killed and wounded many, many people. Maniac.”

Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, inside a medical building where he was serving as an Army psychiatrist, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. Reuters

Trump didn’t volunteer his thoughts on the unusual plan to broadcast the punishment of former Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others on Nov. 5, 2009, inside a medical building at the Texas base.

Vance, traveling for campaign appearances in Ohio, said he’s unconvinced that the execution actually will be viewable by the public.

“I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” Vance said, adding, “If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”

Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” as he fired at his fellow troops with a laser-sighted handgun, later confessing that the shooting was meant to stop US forces from going to Afghanistan and killing his fellow Muslims.

He was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, and he was sentenced to death following a 2013 trial.

Pentagon officials have confirmed that Hasan’s execution by firing squad will take place at Fort Hood, the scene of the crime.

President Trump Friday backed the Department of War’s decision to execute Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad. AFP via Getty Images

“We’re gonna make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said.

“Army major betrays his country, radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood. Of course we’re doing it at Fort Hood,” he added.

The last military execution by firing squad occurred during World War II, and some Republicans have expressed discomfort with the idea.

The last military execution by firing squad occurred during World War II. Getty Images

“Seneca warned that Rome’s bloody spectacles corrupted the people who watched them. A civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment,” said Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) in a statement.

“Secretary Hegseth’s plan to livestream the Fort Hood execution risks feeding that appetite,” Curtis added. “The victims deserve justice administered with solemnity. Broadcasting a death diminishes us and is not an effective deterrent. I urge him to reconsider.”

Former Trump administration officials have also spoken out, with ex-National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent calling the planned execution “a stain on our morality.”

Start your day with all you need to know

Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

Thanks for signing up!

“[I]t also gives the terrorists free propaganda that they will use to radicalize & recruit more terrorists like Hassan [sic],” Kent said.

But an Army sergeant who survived the bloody massacre after being shot seven times has said he looks forward to attending Hasan’s execution to “look at him in his eyes.”

“I’m gonna be there [to watch] and before they pull the trigger, I want him to look at me in my eyes and I look at him in his eyes, and I want him to know, ‘Dude you failed. I’m still here,’” Alonzo Lunsford told the BBC.

The last execution of a US service member took place in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged after being convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl at a base in Austria.