Trump goes after flag burners and a decades-old D.C. bail policy in two new executive orders

In a significant move just eight months into his term, President Trump on Monday signed two executive orders targeting crime and protest. The first order aims to dismantle cashless bail systems, beginning with Washington, D.C., while the second directs the Justice Department to scrutinize instances of flag desecration. These actions are the latest steps in the administration’s nationwide effort to reduce criminal activity and assert federal authority.

According to CBS News, the executive order concerning cashless bail is designed to compel localities to abandon the practice by threatening to withhold federal funding. This new policy tasks Attorney General Pam Bondi with identifying jurisdictions that have such bail policies. The president’s administration can then proceed with revoking or withholding federal grants to those areas.

Speaking about the policy before signing the document in the Oval Office, the president stated his intention to end the system. He said, “That was when the big crime in this country started,” Mr. Trump said Monday, speaking of cashless bail. “They kill people and they get out. Cashless bail, they thought it was discriminatory to make people put up money because they just killed three people lying on the street.”

There are new crimes now that Trump is in charge

Beyond bail reform, the administration’s new policy seeks to increase federal law enforcement presence in the district. Another executive order signed on Monday states a clear objective to hold as many suspects captured in D.C. in federal custody as possible, charging them with federal crimes.

This measure aligns with the current deployment of the National Guard and federal law enforcement officers throughout the city. According to the White House, the increased security presence has been credited with a recent period of no murders in the district over the preceding 11 days. The administration also seeks to hire additional federal law enforcement personnel to allow for an increased deployment of officers to Washington, D.C.

A separate directive was also issued to the defense secretary to ensure that each state’s National Guard units are properly equipped, trained, and ready to assist in “quelling civil disturbances.” This is just fancy talk for using an armed military against its citizens. The president said, “We’re ready to go anywhere. We can go anywhere on less than 24 hours’ notice.”

In addition to the crime-related orders, the president signed an executive order targeting flag burning. The administration has criticized recent pro-Palestinian and anti-immigration demonstrations where flags have been burned. The new order encourages Attorney General Bondi to investigate these instances of flag desecration.

A staff secretary for the president explained that, where there is evidence of criminal activity and prosecution would not infringe on First Amendment protections, the Justice Department is instructed to prosecute those involved in flag burning. The Supreme Court in 1989 ruled that flag burning is a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.

Despite this, the president has voiced his desire for strict punishment for the act. He said, “And then where there’s evidence of criminal activity, where prosecution wouldn’t fall afoul of the First Amendment, it instructs the Department of Justice to prosecute those who were engaged in these instances of flag burning. And what the penalty is going to be, if you burn a flag, you get one year in jail, no early exits, no nothing.”