Jim Lo Scalzo / Epa
US President Donald Trump
“Burn a US flag, a year in prison”; Pentagon, the Department of Defense, will be called War Department.
US President Donald Trump signed a decree on Monday that urges federal prosecutors to CRIMINAL PROCEED ANY PERSON who burns the flag of the United States, especially during demonstrations or protests.
“The attorney general will give priority to the application, as much as possible, of the criminal and civil laws of our nation against acts of desecration of the American flag that violate applicable laws,” said Trump in a decree directly addressed to the US Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Trump himself defended the executive order on Monday at a press conference in the Oval Room, because “they are burning flags across the country.”
“They are burning the American flag everywhere, as they know, because of a very sad judicial decision of 5-4. They called him freedom of expression,” he said. “Burn a flag, one year in prison”Trump warned at a press conference at the Oval Hall, terms that are not in the executive order itself.
In the decree, Trump stared that the flag “is the most sacred and esteemed symbol of America and American freedom, independence and strength.”
“For nearly two and a half centuries, thousands of US patriots fought, spilled blood and died so that the US flag could be proudly raised,” he recalled. “The American flag is a special symbol in our national life that should unite and represent all Americans of all origins and lifestyles,” he said, adding that “profaning it is particularly offensive and provocative.”
For Donald Trump this type of acts are “a statement of contempt, hostility and violence” against the United States. “Burning this representation of the United States can incite violence and riots,” he concluded.
Burning flags itself is not classified as a crime, but may fit in other criminal categories such as “peace disturbance” or violation of environmental norms. THE Justice will have a difficult task aheadsince the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court protects the burning of flags as political expression protected by the first amendment by a 1989 decision.
As polls, however, support Trumpsince 59% of Americans believe that burning a US flag during a demonstration should never be acceptable.
Pentagon to Department of War
Trump suggested this Monday that the Defense Department (Pentagon) will soon be appointed war department, because “Everyone likes”From this designation, used during the world wars.
“Pete Hegseth has been amazing at, how I call her, war department. You know, we call you the Defense Department, but here among us, I think we’ll change the name,” Trump said at a meeting with the president of South Korea.
“Do you want to know the truth? I think we’ll have some information about it soon,” added the US head of state. Trump argued that during US wins in the 1st and World War II The name used was war department.
“I have a feeling that we are going to change. Everyone likes it. We had an unbelievable history of victories when it was still department of war,” he said.
The War Department was created by George Washington in 1789 and existed until 1947, when he was reorganized by then -president Harry Truman. In 1949, he was renamed the Defense Department, maintaining the designation more than three quarters of the century.
The US President, assumed aspiring to the Nobel Peace Prize, also praised the increase in the number of military recruitments in his second term. Despite the suggested change of name, Trump emphasized his efforts to mediate the ceasefire and the truce in global conflicts, highlighting the successes in conflicts between India and Pakistan and Armenia and Azerbaijan, among others. It has also sought to mediate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, while many of its supporters appeal to that it is attributed to it.
“ABC and NBC? 97% of the time attack me”
The president again accuses the main television channels of bias, even advocating the withdrawal of his issuance licenses.
On Sunday, the head of state wrote on the Truth Social network that ABC and NBC transmit “97% of negative news” About you, considering them “an arm of the Democratic Party” and stating that it would support an intervention by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Trump’s criticism of the media are not new. Republican has already sued media companies and has threatened investigations. This summer, CBS owner Paramount, paid $ 16 million to end a lawsuit filed by the president, related to an interview of the 60 Minutes program. ABC also reached similar agreement at the end of 2024.
Despite the threats, experts recall that the FCC does not directly license the major national chains, but to local seasons.
