President Donald Trump ordered U.S. flags across the country and at military bases and vessels throughout the world to the top of the pole for the rest of the day.
Some Republican governors had issued a similar order before the inauguration, but former President Joe Biden declined to have flags flown at full staff. Trump’s flag order wasn’t limited to his own inauguration.
“By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in honor of Inauguration Day and everything good and noble that it represents about our Nation, our people, and our form of Government, I hereby order that, on this and all future Inauguration Days, the flag of the United States shall be flown at full-staff,” he wrote in the order.
Trump’s flag order applies to the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government, in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions. It also applies to embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations. The proclamation said the flags should remain that way for the remainder of this day.
At the end of Inauguration Day, Trump said U.S. flags should be returned to half-staff to continue the 30-day mourning period for former President Jimmy Carter, who died in December at age 100.
Even before Trump’s flag proclamation, some governors had already ordered flags to full-staff. Prominent Democrat, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, joined with the group of mostly Republican governors. In addition to governors, House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered that flags at the U.S. Capitol fly at full-staff for Trump’s inauguration.
Before he left office, Biden was asked if he would raise the flags for his rival’s inauguration, but his press secretary said last week that Biden had no plans to do so.
Trump previously criticized Biden’s flag decision and the Democrats who support it.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in a recent post. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.”
Trump’s flag proclamation was among the first six items posted on the official White House website and came ahead of offer first-day promises Trump made before taking office.
