Flag Burners To Face 1 Year In Prison With Trump’s Latest Executive Order
on Aug 25, 2025
Trump Signs Executive Order To Protect The American Flag
“Will you listen to this, this is very important,” President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office on Monday, August 25.
Seated at the Resolute Desk with a pen in hand, Trump was handed an executive order regarding flag burning.
“All over the country, they’re burning flags,” Trump lamented.
At pro-Palestine demonstrations on university campuses, as well as at anti-immigration enforcement demonstrations on the streets of many cities, the American flag has been, at times, desecrated and even burned.
The flag is a symbol of American freedom, with the red stripes symbolizing the “valor and bravery” of those who have fought and died to defend the nation.
Through this executive order, the Department of Justice is charged with investigating incidents of flag burning which go beyond actions protected by the First Amendment.
“If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail,” Trump said. “You will see flag burning stopping immediately.”
Further, the executive order states:
“The Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security … shall deny, prohibit, terminate, or revoke visas, residence permits, naturalization proceedings, and other immigration benefits, or seek removal from the United States … whenever there has been an appropriate determination that foreign nationals have engaged in American Flag-desecration activity under circumstances that permit the exercise of such remedies pursuant to Federal law.”
The First Amendment Debate
“As you know, through a very sad court, I guess it was a 5-4 decision, they called it Freedom of Speech,” Trump said of the Supreme Court’s 1989 decision to protect flag burning.
This decision was made in the Court’s ruling on Texas v. Johnson, a case which concerned an individual named Gregory Lee Johnson, who, at the age of 28, burned an American flag outside of the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas.
According to the facts of the case, as detailed on United States Courts website:
“Johnson burned the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. He was arrested and charged with violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object, including the American flag, if such action were likely to incite anger in others. A Texas court tried and convicted Johnson. He appealed, arguing that his actions were “symbolic speech” protected by the First Amendment.”
Ruling 5-4, the decision was largely supported by liberal-leaning Supreme Court Justices, but did have conservative-leaning Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy joining the majority.
Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the dissenting opinion, with United States Courts’ summary of his dissent reading, “Justice Stevens argued that the flag’s unique status as a symbol of national unity outweighed ‘symbolic speech’ concerns, and thus, the government could lawfully prohibit flag burning.”
Since this ruling, flag burning has been a somewhat common sight at protests aimed against the United States government.
In 2024, during anti-Israel protests in Washington, D.C., the American flag was burned by demonstrators as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress.
Watch the flag burn, here:
However, the story didn’t end there, as a man attempted to save the flag from the fire.
Watch as the man is chased through the crowd of protestors, here:
Trump’s Argument For Punishing Flag Burning
Acknowledging the First Amendment’s protection of flag burning, Trump said there’s a scenario he has instructed the Department of Justice to be looking for: incitement of riots.
Explaining, Trump said, “When you burn a flag, the area goes crazy … When you burn the American flag, it incites riots at levels we’ve never seen before.”
He added, “There are some that are going crazy for doing it, there are others that are angry — angry — about them doing it.”
The executive order states:
“Our great American Flag is the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and of American freedom, identity, and strength. Over nearly two-and-a-half centuries, many thousands of American patriots have fought, bled, and died to keep the Stars and Stripes waving proudly. The American Flag is a special symbol in our national life that should unite and represent all Americans of every background and walk of life.”
Continuing, the executive order then reads, “Desecrating it is uniquely offensive and provocative. It is a statement of contempt, hostility, and violence against our Nation — the clearest possible expression of opposition to the political union that preserves our rights, liberty, and security.”
Speaking on the flag, Trump said, “The people in this country don’t want to see our American flag burned and spit on, and by people who are, in many cases, paid agitators. They’re paid by the radical left to do it … They’re bad people that are trying to destroy our nation.”
After Trump signed the executive order, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “Thank you for protecting the American flag, and [the Department of Justice will] do that without running afoul of the First Amendment as well.”
During the signing of this executive order, Trump cited his 2020 executive order which protected national monuments, memorials, and statues amid the national George Floyd protests. That 2020 executive order threatened up to 10 years in prison for those who destroy public American symbols.
Watch Trump’s remarks from the Oval Office on flag burning, here:
