I’m not a lawyer, but I‘ve never quite understood how burning the American flag is a “free speech” issue. Lighting a flag on fire isn’t the same as giving your opinion or writing an article—it’s an action. If I took my bedsheet and lit it on fire on Fifth Avenue, I’m pretty sure a cop would be stopping by shortly.
Donald Trump is certainly no fan of flag-burning, and on Monday, he signed an executive order banning the practice. Titled PROSECUTING BURNING OF THE AMERICAN FLAG, the order vows to restore the “sanctity” of the Stars and Stripes:
My 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, to the fullest extent permissible under any available authority.
The order noted that those who "incite violence or otherwise violate our laws" will be prosecuted.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
— GOP (@GOP) August 25, 2025
“If you burn an American flag, you get 1 year in jail.”pic.twitter.com/nozHg7hrmY
Set a match to Old Glory and spend a year in jail, Trump said:
The order directs the Department of Justice to prosecute individuals who 'desecrate' the flag, along with detaining and deporting immigrants who are accused of flag burning.
'If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail, no early exits, no nothing,' Trump declared in the Oval Office.
The order will certainly be challenged by America-hating leftists. In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that flag burning is protected speech. Trump acknowledged that issue in his order:
Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s rulings on First Amendment protections, the Court has never held that American Flag desecration conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action or that is an action amounting to “fighting words” is constitutionally protected. See Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 408-10 (1989).
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump will today sign an executive order enacting legal consequences for people who burn the AMERICAN FLAG, per Fox.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 25, 2025
"The American flag is the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and desecrating it is uniquely and inherently… pic.twitter.com/ahV5F7NVJN
The tweet continues:
"The American flag is the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and desecrating it is uniquely and inherently offensive and provocative. It is a statement of contempt and hostility toward our Nation, and an act used by groups of foreign nationals calculated to intimidate and threaten violence against Americans,"
Trump has long been a critic of flag-burning, which gained popularity during the Vietnam War protests:
Since the start of his career in politics, Trump has advocated for imposing legal penalties on protesters who destroy the American flag despite the Supreme Court’s prior ruling.
In the past, the president has called for stripping the citizenship from naturalized American citizens who burn the flag and advocated for jail time as a punishment.
Trump during the 2024 campaign season even floated the idea of introducing a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning as a form of protected protest.
Amid the anti-ICE protests in LA earlier this year, Trump called for throwing demonstrators in jail for a year for setting the flag on fire.
‘These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries. They don't carry the American flag,’ Trump told a crowd of servicemembers at Fort Bragg.
‘They only burn it. Did you see a lot of the flags being burned?"
It’s unclear whether this order will survive the courts, but Trump has just made it crystal clear where he stands on the issue.
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