Trump Signs Order to Jail Flag Burners
Trump Signs Order to Jail Flag Burners
The News
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Aug. 25 seeking to penalize people who burn flags.
The order aims to prosecute people who burn flags associated with other violence, such as inciting a riot, Trump said.
"If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, although the order doesn't specify a jail sentence. "You will see flag burning stop immediately."
The executive order focuses on a provision in the Supreme Court decisions that Trump argued said "fighting words" or inciting lawless action aren't protected by the First Amendment.
“What happens when you burn the flag, the area goes crazy," Trump said. “When you burn the American flag, it incites riots."
Timeline
Trump's order comes amid a year of celebration leading to the country’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. Trump mentioned seeking a penalty for flag burning while visiting Fort Bragg in North Carolina on June 10 as part of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary.
“People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year, that's what they should be doing, one year,” Trump said after sometimes violent protests in Los Angeles against immigration enforcement.
Reactions
Bob Corn-Revere, the chief counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said "flag burning as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment" even if Trump finds it "uniquely offensive and provocative."
"President Trump may believe he has the power to revise the First Amendment with the stroke of a pen, but he doesn’t," Corn-Revere said.
But Attorney General Pam Bondi said Trump's goal of prosecuting flag-burning could be accomplished without violating the high court's decision.
"We will do that without running afoul of the First Amendment," Bondi said.
More
The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful protest. The Supreme Court in 1989 ruled in a 5-4 decision that burning a flag itself is a form of political expression and isn't illegal.
Trump has previously called for a one-year penalty for flag-burning, including during a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 2020, during the presidential campaign. He was photographed hugging a flag at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March 2019.
Flags are occasionally burned during protests in front of the White House, including in 2019.
Colleges Condemn Students Mocking Kirk Assassination Anniversary
Charleston White Arrested Again on Florida Battery Charge
Sep 13, 2026
Border Patrol Rescues MS NOW Crew in Desert
Sep 13, 2026
Supreme Court Restores Missouri's Old House Map
Sep 13, 2026
Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
Sep 13, 2026
Trespasser Breaches Harris' Malibu Estate; No Arrest
Sep 12, 2026
Hegseth Pressed Downed Airmen Into 60 Minutes
Sep 12, 2026
Houthis Seize Mokha, Choking Saudi Oil Exports
Sep 12, 2026
Altman Rules Out OpenAI IPO This Year
Sep 12, 2026
Jury Acquits Lil Durk in Murder-for-Hire Case
Sep 12, 2026
Judge: Trump Broke Law Halving FEMA Staff
Sep 12, 2026
Maher Calls Democrats' Gaza Genocide Claim a Lie
Sep 12, 2026
Blizzard Revives StarCraft, Sends Diablo to Netflix
Sep 12, 2026
Trump's Queens Childhood Home Sells for $1.93M
Sep 12, 2026
Scientists Find New Virus in Tick Invading US
Sep 12, 2026
Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback
Sep 12, 2026
Prison Fire Kills 7 as Kurds Protest Killing
Sep 12, 2026
Kosovo Rallies for Ex-President Before Hague Verdict
Sep 12, 2026
Cruz Booed at GameDay Over College Sports Bill
Sep 12, 2026
Blast Hits Bulgarian Arms Plant Supplying Ukraine
Sep 12, 2026
Sep 13, 2026