Donald Trump has finally identified the ultimate nightmare facing the United States: fourteen-year-olds. During his recent Cabinet meeting, which was almost completely unmoored from reality in every aspect, Trump tore up decades of legal argument and insisted that children must be treated like adults when it comes to crime.
Trump: "You have 14 year old kids that are just as tough as a 25 year old, just as dangerous, and they carry the same gun. We have to make a provision where they are treated like older people … you have 14 year old kids that are evil. They're sick. And they have to be put away" pic.twitter.com/LLLaTVD2mW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 26, 2025
“You have 14 year old kids that are just as tough as a 25 year old, just as dangerous, and they carry the same gun. We have to make a provision where they are treated like older people … you have 14 year old kids that are evil. They’re sick. And they have to be put away.”
They… already can be tried as adults?
Trump is behind the curve. Most states already have laws that allow juvenile court judges to transfer a case to adult court, with that decision taking into account the severity of the offense, the juvenile’s age, criminal history, and likelihood of rehabilitation. This process usually can be applied to defendants 14 years old or older, and is generally used in serious crimes like homicide.
In certain cases, the age threshold can be much lower. For example, in 2009, 11-year-old Jordan Brown was charged with homicide as an adult in Pennsylvania. He faced two counts of homicide (one for the death of his father’s girlfriend, Kenzie Houk, and one for her unborn child) and was initially prosecuted in adult court due to Pennsylvania’s lack of a minimum age for adult prosecution in homicide cases. Thankfully, common sense prevailed, and his case was transferred to juvenile court.
Two 12-year-olds have also been tried as adults in recent history. In 2001, Lionel Tate was tried as an adult in Florida for first-degree murder, though that conviction was overturned in 2004 due to the lack of a mental competency evaluation. Another 12-year-old, Curtis Jones, was convicted in 1999 in Florida of second-degree murder and was imprisoned until 2015.
But what Trump seems to be arguing is for 14-year-olds to be tried as adults by default, rather than this being an option for judges. As with most things Trump does, that opens up a true moral minefield over how culpable a child can really be for their actions, however despicable they may be.
Published: Aug 27, 2025 10:53 am