President-elect Donald Trump railed against the order for American flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the late President Jimmy Carter, complaining that they will be in that position “for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President.”
“Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday, and baselessly accused Democrats of being “giddy” that flags will be at half-staff during his inauguration.
Flying flags at half-staff to honor a late political figure or commemorate an occasion is a tradition that transcends political ideology. Flags are traditionally lowered for 30 days to mourn the death of a current or former U.S. president.
Under President Joe Biden’s proclamation, flags will be at half-staff until a week after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Since ordering the flags lowered is a proclamation that a sitting president makes, Trump won’t be able to do anything about it until after he is inaugurated.
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Trump had a tense relationship with Carter, who died at age 100 on Dec. 29, though it was markedly less rancorous than his relations with other former Democratic presidents. Trump called Carter the “worst president” and mocked his presidency while attacking Biden during the 2024 presidential campaign. Carter similarly criticized Trump’s behavior and suggested that his 2016 election win was not legitimate, citing Russian “interference.”
However, after Carter’s death, Trump wrote a post about him on Truth Social that was devoid of attacks, saying that Carter “did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans.” He has also said that he will attend Carter’s funeral.
Memorably, Trump has taken issue with flags flying at half-staff to honor a late politician in the past. In 2018, just two days after Sen. John McCain’s death, Trump had the White House flag raised to full-staff, prompting fierce criticism from Republicans, Democrats and veteran groups. Trump, whose relationship with McCain was infamously strained, eventually relented and ordered the flag to be lowered again.
Trump was not invited to McCain’s funeral, and months later complained that he “didn’t get a thank you” for giving the Arizona Republican “the kind of funeral he wanted.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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