Trump Signs Order Jailing Flag Burners Despite First Amendment Ruling

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order making it a crime to burn the American flag, mandating one year in jail for offenders — despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled decades ago that the act is protected under the First Amendment.

The order, signed on Monday, acknowledges the 1989 Supreme Court ruling but argues that flag burning is “likely to incite imminent lawless action.”

“If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail; no early exits, no nothing,” Trump said as he signed the order. “You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately.”

Civil liberties groups blasted the move, saying it tramples free speech protections. “President Trump may believe he has the power to revise the First Amendment with the stroke of a pen, but he doesn’t,” the free speech advocacy group FIRE said in a statement. “The government can’t prosecute protected expressive activity — even if many Americans, including the president, find it ‘uniquely offensive and provocative.’”

The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue prosecutions “to the fullest extent possible.” It also claims, without evidence, that foreign nationals have used flag burning to threaten Americans, threatening them with visa revocation or deportation if caught.

Trump has defended the measure by calling flag burning “incitement” and “fighting words,” claiming it sparks riots “at levels we’ve never seen before.”