Former US President Donald has called for the execution of drug dealers, claiming each death would "save 500 lives".

As part of a speech to the America First Policy Institute in Washington DC which called for tough, drastic responses to crime, Trump said the US should look overseas for examples.

"The penalties should be very, very severe. If you look at countries throughout the world, the ones that don't have a drug problem are ones that institute a very quick trial death penalty sentence for drug dealers," Trump said.

"It sounds horrible, doesn't it? But, you know what? That's the ones that don't have any problem. It doesn't take 15 years in court. It goes quickly, and you absolutely— you execute a drug dealer and you'll save 500 lives.

"It's terrible to say, but you take a look at every country in this world that doesn't have a problem with drugs, they have a very strong death penalty for people that sell drugs," he said.

Elsewhere in the speech, Trump called on authorities to "be tough and be nasty and be mean if we have to."

"We're living in such a different country for one primary reason: There is no longer respect for the law, and there certainly is no order," Trump claimed.

"Our country is now a cesspool of crime."

Trump's speech was part of his first trip back to Washington since leaving office, and the speech came hours after his Vice President Mike Pence, a potential 2024 rival, exhorted Republicans to stop looking backward.

Trump's appearance in the nation's capital — his first trip back since Jan. 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden was sworn into office despite Trump's frantic efforts to remain in power — comes as some who are mulling White House bids have been increasingly willing to challenge him directly. They include Pence, who on Tuesday outlined his "Freedom Agenda " not far from where Trump was to speak before an allied think tank that has been crafting an agenda for a possible second Trump term.

While the former president remains consumed by the election he falsely claims was stolen from him a year and a half ago, Pence again implored the party to look to the future as he mulls his own.

"Some people may choose to focus on the past, but elections are about the future," Pence said in an address to Young America's Foundation, a student conservative group. "I believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back America. We can't afford to take our eyes off the road in front of us because what's at stake is the very survival of our way of life."

- Additional reporting, AP