Donald Trump is upset that the United States flag will still be at half-staff in honor of Jimmy Carter when he is inaugurated later this month.
On Friday, Jan. 3, Trump, 78, shared a post on Truth Social expressing his feelings about the gesture honoring the former president, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100. He wrote, “Nobody wants to see this.”
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” the newly elected president went on. “They think it’s fantastic and are overjoyed because, in reality, they do not love our country; they only care about themselves.
Look at what they’ve done to our once-great America over the last four years – it’s a complete disaster!”
“In any case,” he went on, “because of President Jimmy Carter’s death, the flag may be at half mast for the first time ever during a future President’s inauguration.” Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be satisfied with it. Let’s see how it turns out. “Make America Great Again!”
Trump’s claim that his Jan. 20 inauguration “may” be the first time flags have been flown at half-mast during a presidential inauguration is false; it occurred for the first time over 50 years ago at Richard Nixon’s second inauguration.
According to The New York Times, when Nixon took office in 1973, all flags on Capitol Hill were at half-staff in honor of former President Harry S. Truman, who had passed away the previous December.
According to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, following the death of a president or former president, the US flag should be flown at half-staff for the next 30 days at “all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels” across the country and its territories.
Former President Dwight Eisenhower instituted the tradition in 1954.
Trump’s post about the gesture honoring Carter, the first president of the United States to reach the age of 100, comes after the president-elect, who has previously publicly mocked the 39th president, announced plans to attend his funeral.
At a New Year’s Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago club on December 31, Trump told reporters he had been invited to Carter’s funeral and would “be there.”
Following the death of the former president and humanitarian, Trump was one of many who paid tribute. “I just heard about President Jimmy Carter’s passing,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History.”
“The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans,” according to him. “For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”
Trump then stated that he and his wife Melania Trump are “thinking warmly of the Carter family and their loved ones during this difficult time.” We urge everyone to remember them in their hearts and prayers.”
Carter will be remembered at funeral services in Georgia and Washington, D.C. from January 4 to January 9. He will then be buried at his home alongside his late wife Rosalynn Carter, who died at the age of 96 in November 2023.
