Video above: Carrie Underwood sings a cappella during President Donald Trump’s inauguration after apparent technical issue.
(NEXSTAR) — Flags across the U.S. are meant to be at half-staff for another eight days, but they were at full staff in Washington, D.C. on Monday. Why was the nation’s capital in defiance of a presidential order issued out of respect for a former president who died?
In honor of the incoming president, it turns out.
Flags nationwide have been flying at half-staff since December 29, 2024, when President Jimmy Carter died “peacefully” in his Georgia home. In accordance with federal law, then-President Joe Biden issued a proclamation that ordered flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days.
As outlined in a 1954 proclamation from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, flags are to be flown at half-staff for the entire 30 days after a president — current or former — dies. It’s the longest period possible for lowered flag flying.
To honor Carter, flags are scheduled not to return to full staff until January 28.
President Donald Trump quickly expressed frustration with the order, which meant flags would fly at half-staff during his inauguration.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Jan. 3. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.”
“Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out,” Trump said, referring to the flags being lowered during his inauguration.
Last Monday, flags at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida had returned to full staff.
A day later, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said flags would fly at full-staff at the Capitol for Trump’s inauguration “to celebrate our country coming together” behind the 47th president. In the following days, governors in multiple states — including California, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, and Texas — also ordered flags to fly at full-staff for the Monday inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Johnson, as well as many of those governors, have said flags will return to half-staff on Tuesday and remain there through the remainder of the 30-day period.
Those proclamations won’t be needed again: among the first documents Trump signed on Monday was a proclamation that orders U.S. flags to fly at full mast on every inauguration day moving forward.
