Will Flags Be Flown Half-Staff on Inauguration Day? What to Know and Trump’s Reaction

Despite a former directive that U.S. flags would be flown at half-staff during President-elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day—an official sign of grieving former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29, 2024, aged 100—the flags at the Capitol are set to be flying full. This comes after Trump complained about the idea of the flags being flown at half-staff.

In a statement shared via social media on Jan. 14, Speaker Mike Johnson said: “On Jan. 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.”

President Joe Biden had originally directed that flags were set to be flown at half-staff. In his proclamation about the death of Carter, Biden said that flags should be flown at half-staff “as an expression of public sorrow” for 30 days—a period of time that would have included Trump’s inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20.

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Upon learning of Carter’s death, Trump paid tribute via his social media platform, Truth Social. “While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for,” Trump said of Carter. “He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect.”

Trump later posted on Truth Social, about the flags, saying that Democrats were “giddy” about the flags being flown at half-staff during his inauguration.

“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,” he wrote. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out.”

Shortly after, during a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if the White House would reconsider its decision to fly the flags at half-staff, in light of Trump’s raised concerns about his inauguration. Jean-Pierre replied with a firm “no.”

However, Johnson has since changed the scene for the Capitol, and several Republicans are also sharing similar statements.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have ordered that flags at state buildings be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day.

“On this unique occasion, where we simultaneously celebrate the service of an incoming president and commend the service of a former President, our nation’s flag will be prominently displayed at full-staff to honor the tradition of our founding fathers and the sacrifices made by those who have served to ensure the torch of liberty continues to burn strong,” DeSantis wrote in his statement.

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In 1973, President Nixon broke with tradition and put flags at full-staff during a mourning period  to honor the release of American prisoners of war in Vietnam. Though it was during a period of national mourning after the death of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Nixon wrote that the short raising of the flag was in accordance with Johnson’s “highest respect and affection for the men in uniform who gave so much on the battlefields and in the prison camps.” 

Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Trump has been involved in discourse about flags being flown at half-staff. When Senator John McCain died in 2018, flags at some federal buildings were fully raised earlier than would normally be expected after the death of a Senator. After criticism, the flags were lowered again.