While speaking to soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina Tuesday, President Donald Trump shared some interesting news.
(Several bits, actually.)
One such revelation came when Trump revealed that he has decided to start working with lawmakers to more forcefully punish flag burners.
The topic came to the forefront due to the ongoing anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots happening in Los Angeles, which have featured flag burning among the general chaos. Trump made his feelings on the matter abundantly clear.
Check them out below:
Trump: “People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year … we’re working with some of your senators.” pic.twitter.com/4H26X3pV8y
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 10, 2025
“People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year,” Trump said, to uproarious applause. “It’s what they should be doing. One year.
“And we’ll see if we can get that done, we’re going to try and get that done.
“We’re working with some of your senators — I know [Missouri GOP] Sen. Josh Hawley is very much involved.
“And I know the two senators from [North Carolina], I think, are you guys in favor of it?
“Boy, would this be a bad time for them to say, ‘no.'”
A number of Trump critics under the above video post accused the president of violating the First Amendment with regard to his tough rhetoric on flag burners.
The issue of flag burning is, in fact, somewhat disputed, based on 1989’s Texas v. Johnson case. While the Supreme Court generally agrees that flag burning is protected under First Amendment rights as a symbolic act, it’s not a slam-dunk decision free from scrutiny.
In fact, some of Trump’s fiercest critics — the Democrats — were once firmly in agreement that flag burning should be punishable by jail time.
Former President Joe Biden, as laid out by The Washington Post, has had an evolving stance on the matter.
Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whom Trump beat in the 2016 general election, has also flip-flopped on the issue, as noted by CBS News.
And that’s to say nothing of the swathes of Democrats who’ve historically taken up this rather popular position.
These days, Biden, Clinton, and Democratic critics will all likely echo similar First Amendment concerns when dissecting this latest Trump decision.
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