SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 15, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has issued an order for the flags of the United States of America and the great state of Utah to be flown at full staff on all state facilities on Monday, Jan. 20, in observance of Donald Trump‘s presidential inauguration day.
Afterward, “Flags will be returned to half-staff at sunset on the same day to honor the life and legacy of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who passed away in December 2024,” says a news release issued by Cox’s office. “Flags will remain at half-staff through sunset on Jan. 28, 2025.”
Cox extends an invitation to private citizens, businesses and organizations across Utah “to join in this tribute.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is going to order that the flags at the U.S. Capitol be raised for Trump’s inauguration — defying a White House proclamation, according to ABC News.
Leaving a GOP press conference Tuesday morning, Johnson nodded his head when asked if he would be raising the flags next week. He later confirmed his decision in a post on X.
“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 honoring President Jimmy Carter,” Johnson posted.
The U.S. Code, written by Congress, states that the American flag “shall be flown” at half-staff for 30 days upon the death of a president or former president.
Trump had expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of flags being lowered during his inauguration.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social. “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.
“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. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out.”
Other governors ordering flags to be raised during the Trump inauguration represent Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and Texas. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered that flags be raised for the incoming president. Flags in Oklahoma were raised after Carter’s funeral.
