Trump to Target Flag Burners with New Executive Order: ‘It Is Uniquely and Inherently Offensive’
president Donald Trump has announced an executive order aimed at punishing individuals who burn the American flag. Despite a 1989 Supreme Court ruling that flag burning is a protected form of free speech, the order seeks to prosecute offenders under existing laws. The governance considers flag desecration an offensive act that conveys contempt and hostility toward the nation and is sometimes used to intimidate Americans. Attorney General Pam Bondi is tasked with pursuing legal action against those who desecrate the flag, including referring cases to state and local authorities when appropriate. The order also includes provisions to deny or revoke visas for foreign nationals involved in flag desecration. Trump has long advocated for stricter penalties, including a proposed one-year jail sentence. Additionally, Trump plans to sign an executive order targeting Washington, D.C.’s cashless bail policy by threatening to withhold federal funding if the policy continues.
President Donald Trump has developed an executive order that will punish anyone who burns an American flag.
As noted by NewsNation, a 1989 Supreme Court decision ruled that burning the flag is a protected form of speech.
However, as reported by Fox News in the order expected to be signed Monday, Trump plans to call for prosecution of those who burn the flag using existing laws.
“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,” a fact sheet on the order said.
🚨 TODAY AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Trump to crack down on flag burning, desecration with executive orderhttps://t.co/FJ4jznYEJi
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) August 25, 2025
“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.”
The order calls for Attorney General Pam Bondi to spur prosecution of those who act “in ways that involve desecrating the flag.”
Bondi is also ordered to send flag desecration cases in which a violation of state or local laws takes place to authorities at those levels.
Fox reported that the fact sheet issued with the order calls for Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “deny, prohibit, terminate, or revoke visas or other immigration permits” for any foreign national “wherever there has been an appropriate determination that flag desecration by foreign nationals permits the exercise of those remedies under applicable law.”
Trump has long opposed flag burning.
“You should get a one-year jail sentence if you do anything to desecrate the American flag,” he said last year, according to The Independent.
“Now, people will say, ‘Oh, it’s unconstitutional.’ Those are stupid people. Those are stupid people that say that,” he said then.
“We have to work in Congress to get a one-year jail sentence. When they’re allowed to stomp on the flag and put lighter fluid on the flag and set it afire, when you’re allowed to do that — you get a one-year jail sentence, and you’ll never see it again,” Trump said.
Axios reported that Trump also plans to sign an executive order on Monday that would punish Washington, D.C., if city officials refuse to end their “cashless bail” policy.
“A White House official said the executive order could threaten to withhold federal funding or government-backed project approvals from D.C. if it doesn’t end its cashless-bail policy.”
The administration is opposed to D.C.’s “cashless bail” policy on the grounds that it hurts “law-abiding, hard-working” people the most.
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