Trump wants to prosecute flag burners. The Supreme Court has already said that’s illegal.

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Trump wants to prosecute flag burners. The Supreme Court has already said that’s illegal. The president said it was a “very sad court” that previously rejected flag-burning prosecutions on First Amendment grounds.

Aug. 25, 2025, 2:33 PM EDT

By Jordan Rubin

The late conservative icon Antonin Scalia said that if it were up to him, he would “put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag.” The Supreme Court justice then acknowledged: “But I am not king.”

Fast-forward to Monday, when President Donald Trump felt the need to clarify that he is “not a dictator” on the day that he signed an executive order calling for flag-burning prosecutions.

During the Oval Office ceremony, the president lamented that a “v