Trump's week in review: Targeting cash bail, firing Lisa Cook

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, August 30, 2025

Protesters burn an American flag outside of Union Station following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address during a joint session of congress, in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2024. | Matthew Hatcher / AFP via Getty Images

1. Trump signs executive order banning the burning of the US flag

In an executive order published Monday, Trump authorized Attorney General Pam Bondi to “vigorously prosecute those who violate our laws in ways that involve desecrating the American Flag” and “pursue litigation to clarify the scope of the First Amendment exceptions in this area.”

Trump insisted that the U.S. Supreme Court “has never held that American flag desecration conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action or that is an action amounting to ‘fighting words’ is constitutionally protected.”

Trump’s repeated reference to the Constitution and the First Amendment in his executive order, which also directs members of his administration to work to prohibit or revoke visas or entry into the U.S. for foreign nationals who engage in flag desecration, stems from the Supreme Court’s 1989 ruling in Texas v. Johnson. The 1989 decision held that laws prohibiting flag burning violate the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The directive for Bondi to “pursue litigation to clarify the scope of the First Amendment exceptions in this area” suggests that the Trump administration might seek to overturn the 5-4 Texas v. Johnson decision.

Trump described flag desecration as a “statement of contempt, hostility, and violence against our Nation” and “the clearest possible expression of opposition to the political union that preserves our rights, liberty, and security,” warning that “burning this representation of America may incite violence and riot.”

The executive order indicates that the Trump administration will seek to prosecute people for flag burning under laws prohibiting “violent crimes; hate crimes, illegal discrimination against American citizens, or other violations of Americans’ civil rights; and crimes against property and the peace, as well as conspiracies and attempts to violate, and aiding and abetting others to violate, such laws.”