Trump Says Anyone Who Burns American Flag ‘Will Be Immediately Arrested’

President Donald Trump said that anyone convicted of desecrating the American flag could face one year in prison.

President Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Va., on Sept. 30, 2025. Andrew Harnik /Pool via AP

President Donald Trump said on Oct. 3 that anyone caught burning the American flag could be “immediately arrested” and face imprisonment for one year under the executive order he signed on Aug. 25.

In a Truth Social post, Trump told law enforcement and the U.S. military that the order will apply going forward and that anyone who burns the national flag could be prosecuted.

“To ICE, Border Patrol, Law Enforcement, and all U.S. Military: As per my August 25, 2025 Executive Order, please be advised that, from this point forward, anybody burning the American Flag will be subject to one year in prison,” the president stated. “You will be immediately arrested.”

In his Aug. 25 executive order, Trump described the flag as “the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and of American freedom, identity, and strength.”

The national flag represents all Americans, the president said, noting that “many thousands of American patriots have fought, bled, and died to keep the Stars and Stripes waving proudly.”

“Desecrating it is uniquely offensive and provocative. It is a statement of contempt, hostility, and violence against our Nation—the clearest possible expression of opposition to the political union that preserves our rights, liberty, and security,” Trump stated in his order.

The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute cases of American flag desecration to the “maximum extent permitted by the Constitution” and allows the attorney general to pursue litigation to clarify the scope of First Amendment exceptions in such cases.

Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are authorized by the order to “deny, prohibit, terminate, or revoke visas, residence permits, naturalization proceedings, and other immigration benefits, or seek removal from the United States” individuals convicted of flag desecration.

Burning the U.S. flag as a form of political protest became prevalent during the Vietnam War, leading to the Flag Protection Act of 1968, which outlawed burning, defacing, defiling, mutilating, or trampling the flag.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1989, Texas v. Johnson, overturned the law and declared the act of flag desecration protected as symbolic speech under the First Amendment.

However, Trump’s order states that the Supreme Court’s rulings on the First Amendment do not protect acts of American flag desecration that are likely to incite “imminent lawless action” or actions that amount to “fighting words.”

The president vowed “to restore respect and sanctity to the American Flag” and to prosecute those who incite violence to the “fullest extent permissible under any available authority.”

Travis Gillmore contributed to this report.