“No one wants to see this”: Trump laments that flags are at half-mast for his inauguration

Donald Trump said Friday that “no one wanted to see” flags at half-mast during his January 20 inauguration ceremony, a decision that was taken in tribute to former President Jimmy Carter.

“Because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the flag will, for the first time in history during the inauguration of a new president, be at half-mast. No one wants to see that and no American can be happy about it,” the Republican president-elect wrote on his Truth Social network.

He also criticizes his Democratic opponents for “rejoicing” in the situation.

Asked whether the White House could reverse this decision or reconsider it, Joe Biden’s spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, curtly replied “No” on Friday during her daily press conference.

When Jimmy Carter died on December 29, the outgoing Democratic president ordered that flags be flown at half-mast on public buildings for a period of thirty days, until after Donald Trump was sworn in.

This has been the practice, since a proclamation published in 1954 by Dwight Eisenhower, in the event of the death of an American president or former president.

© Agence France-Presse