Tribute to Trump: Speaker Johnson says flags will fly at US Capitol during presidential inauguration
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that flags on the U.S. Capitol will be flown to full staff next Monday, Jan. 20, to mark President-elect Donald Trump inauguration.
The move comes despite an official order President Biden following the death of former President Jimmy Carter on December 29 that flags across the country will be flown at half-staff during a 30-day mourning period.
“On January 20, flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate the unification of our country behind the inauguration of our 47th president, Donald Trump. Flags will be lowered to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter,” he said. Johnson said in a statement.
THIS REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SAYS FLAGS WILL BE FLOWN AT TRUMP’S INAUGURATION IN HIS STATE
House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump on stage during a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Johnson is a strong support Trump, and the president-elect’s recent endorsement has helped Johnson reduce opposition from some far-right Republicans to his re-election as president of the new Congress.
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According to the US Flag Code, US flags are flown at half-staff for a period of 30 days to mark the departure of a current or former president, on federal government buildings, military installations and vessels, and on US embassies and other facilities in the whole country. world.
Flags fly at half-staff in memory of former President Jimmy Carter during a winter snowstorm at Union Station in Washington, DC, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Trump earlier this month claimed on social media that “all the Democrats are ‘giddy'” over flags flying at half-staff during his inauguration.
“Nobody wants to see this,” Trump asserted. “No American can be happy about that. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
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It is optional on the American flag, meaning Trump could technically override it once he is inaugurated as president.
An American flag is displayed at the Mar-a-Lago complex in Palm Beach, Fla., as a U.S. Coast Guard vessel patrols nearby, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. American flags at President-elect Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago Club are back in full height flight. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Cenet)
The Associated Press noted that the flag at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, was flying at full height on Monday.
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The flag was flown at half-staff but was raised in the days after Carter’s funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, and burial in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, which took place on Thursday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Monday that the flags at the state Capitol building in Austin and at all state office buildings will also be flown to full staff next Monday to mark Trump’s inauguration.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report
