Why did flags fly at full-staff for Trump's inauguration?
'Nobody wants to see this,' Trump said, following the order from Joe Biden to lower the flags.
Donald Trump's inauguration was a spectacle full of pomp and ceremony, with the richest people in the world in attendance.
But anyone expecting flags at the Capitol to be flying at half mast following the death of former US president Jimmy Carter would have been mistaken. Here's why.
Why were the flags set to fly at half staff?
Flags were flown at half staff in government buildings in honour of the late president Jimmy Carter - who died on 29 December 2024, aged 100 - and were meant to have remained as such for the inauguration.
President Joe Biden made the order to show respect for the late leader. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs: "An easy way to remember when to fly the United States flag at half-staff is to consider when the whole nation is in mourning.
"These periods of mourning are proclaimed either by the president of the United States, for national remembrance, or the governor of a state or territory, for local remembrance, in the event of a death of a member or former member of the federal, state or territorial government or judiciary."
The US Flag Code dictates that US flags should fly lower for 30 days following the death of a current or former president. As such, they will be lowered until 28 January.
The rule applies to federal buildings, including US embassies overseas.
The death of a vice president or former vice president would see flags fly lower for 10 days, while flags would do so from the day and day after the death of a more minor political figures.
What has Trump said?
Despite the rule being well known and previously observed, the incoming president was vocally unhappy about the flags flying at half-mast during his inauguration.
Trump said the Democrats were "giddy" about the idea of having lower flags during his inauguration.
He wrote in a social media post following the original decision: "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.”
On 14 January, less than a week before the ceremony, House Speaker Mike Johnson (a Republican ally of Trump) seemed to agree, declaring: “On January 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 honouring president Jimmy Carter.”
Following his swearing-in as president, Trump went even further, declaring: "I hereby order that, on this and all future Inauguration Days, the flag of the United States shall be flown at full-staff."
"Accordingly, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at full-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government, in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions, for the remainder of this day beginning immediately."
What did Biden say?
Joe Biden did not comment publicly on Trump's complaints about the flag potentially being lowered to half staff during the inauguration, however he took the original decision to lower the flags for 30 days following Carter's death.
When White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked whether the president would reconsider its decision to lower the flags following Trump's campaign, she confirmed that there would be no change of decision from Biden.
That said, the flags were raised for Trump's inauguration before being lowered again as a mark of respect for the late president Carter.