Flags to be raised for Trump’s inauguration, despite half-staff order for Carter’s death

Flags will be flown at full-staff on Jan. 20 for Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, despite an order from President Biden to lower the flags to half-staff in remembrance of the late President Jimmy Carter.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican, announced the decision to raise the flags to full staff in a message on X, writing: “On January 20th, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump.”

The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter.”

Carter, who was beloved by many during his post-presidency, died at the age of 100 on Dec. 29 last year, making him the longest-lived president in American history. As is tradition following the death of a president, Biden ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on federal properties for 30 days, which would coincide with the inauguration of the president-elect.

Trump, however, accused Democrats of being “giddy” at the thought of the flag not waving at full height during the oath-taking ceremony.

“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social. “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.

“In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out.”

Trump’s demand marks a departure with tradition. When President Nixon was inaugurated in 1973, the flags at the Capitol building were flown at half-staff in honor of former President Harry Truman, who died on Dec. 26.