Different Presidents have different approaches to crime and punishment.

Bill Clinton, in the 1990s, famously objected to the use of corporal punishment on Michael Fay, who was found guilty of vandalism.

But Donald Trump doesn't seem to mind Singapore's harsh penalties for drug trafficking - and wants to introduce the death penalty for drug crimes in America.

Admires Singapore's laws

Political news site Axios said in an exclusive report, quoting an unnamed close source to the President, that he admires Singapore's tough drug laws, and cites them as the reason for our low rates of drug use.

According to the source, who has "spoken at length to the President on the subject", Trump cited a conversation he had with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The source said of Trump:

"He says that a lot. He says, 'When I ask the prime minister of Singapore do they have a drug problem [the prime minister replies,] 'No. Death penalty.'"

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Health crisis

Public acceptance of "softer" drugs like marijuana is gaining ground in the US. It is currently legal to smoke marijuana in nine states and Washington D.C.

Despite this, Trump's Attorney-General Jeff Sessions has cracked down hard on marijuana use, even businesses that comply with state laws.

But marijuana isn't the only drug being widely used in the US.

In Oct. 2017, Trump declared the opioid crisis in the US a "public health emergency", and pledged to support states' efforts to pay for drug treatment through Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for low-income people.

Cases of drug overdoses in the US hit a record high of nearly 64,000 in 2016, with about two-thirds of these overdoses linked to opioids. The vast majority of opioid abuse cases involve abuse of prescription painkillers.

Tough sell

According to Axios, at least five different sources have spoken about how Trump believes a softer approach to drug reform, such as lenient sentences, "will never work".

While Trump is in favour of the death penalty for drug dealers, he's privately admitted that it would be almost impossible to get such a Singapore-style law passed under the American system.

Top image by Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images.