US President Donald Trump took a fresh jab at individuals who burn the American flag during protests in an executive order signed on Monday, directing federal prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against such individuals.Donald Trump’s remarks came while talking got reporters from the Oval Office where he said, “All over the country they’re burning flags,” when he signed the order. “All of over the world they burn the American flag, and as you know, through a very sad court, I guess it was a 5-4 decision, they called it freedom of speech”.
What’s Trump’s executive order on flag burning?
Titled “Prosecuting Burning of the American Flag”, Donald Trump’s new executive order does not explicitly criminalize flag desecration, but emphasizes that the Justice Department must “vigorously prosecute” such cases and even consider litigation to “clarify the scope of First Amendment exceptions.”It instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify instances where flag burning may overlap with existing violations of law — such as disturbing the peace, destruction of property, environmental violations, or incitement to violence.The executive order reads that the administration will “act to restore respect and sanctity to the American Flag and prosecute those who incite violence or otherwise violate our laws while desecrating this symbol of our country.” “If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail, no early exits, no nothing,” Trump declared in the Oval Office while signing the directive. However, the order itself contains no direct reference to sentencing.Foreign nationals are also directly targeted under the order. Those found guilty could lose visas, be denied green cards or citizenship, and even face deportation.
Trump’s long-standing position
Donald Trump has repeatedly called for penalties against flag burners. As far back as 2016, he posted on social media that those who desecrate the flag should face “loss of citizenship or a year in jail.” On Monday, he described the 1989 decision as the product of a “very sad court.”
The Supreme Court precedent
Trump’s move is seen as an attempt to work around the US Supreme Court’s 1989 ruling in Texas v. Johnson. In a narrow 5–4 decision, the court struck down state laws banning flag burning, holding that the act constituted “symbolic speech” protected under the First Amendment. That ruling invalidated flag-burning bans in 48 states, reinforcing the principle that even offensive political expression is constitutionally safeguarded. At the time, Justice William Brennan, writing for the majority, argued that the government could not prohibit expression simply because society found it disagreeable or offensive.The late Justice Antonin Scalia whom Trump has often hailed as “one of the best of all time”, admitted in a 2012 CNN interview: “If I were king, I would not allow people to go around burning the American flag. However, we have a First Amendment, which says that the right of free speech shall not be abridged — and it is addressed in particular to speech critical of the government.”That series of rulings invalidated flag-burning bans in 48 states, reinforcing the principle that even offensive political expression is constitutionally safeguarded.
Public opinion on the issue
A 2020 YouGov poll found nearly half of respondents supported making flag burning illegal, while a third believed it should remain protected. By September 2023, the share of Americans who said flag burning was “always unacceptable” had risen to 59%. However Trump’s executive order does not under existing precedent, directly outlaw flag burning. Instead, it seeks to stretch existing laws to prosecute demonstrators taking on the American flag as tool for politcal dissent.