Trump attempts to go around court’s 1989 ruling that right to burn flags is protected speech – key US politics stories from Monday 25 August
Donald Trump has signed an executive order instructing federal prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against individuals who burn American flags during protests.
The order on Monday tells the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to look at cases where people burned flags and see if they can be charged with other crimes such as disturbing the peace or breaking environmental laws.
Trump claimed “you burn a flag, you get one year in jail” as he signed the order, though it doesn’t include details about potential prison sentences.
Here are the key Trump administration stories at a glance.
The president’s move is an attempt to go around a supreme court decision from 1989, when the court ruled 5-4 in Texas v Johnson that destroying the flag is protected political expression under the first amendment.
That court ruling threw out flag-burning laws in 48 states and made it clear that people have the right to burn flags as a way to express their political views.
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Maryland man Kilmar Ábrego García has been detained after reporting to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents in Baltimore on Monday, but a judge later ruled that he could not be deported for now.
The detainment of Ábrego, who the Trump administration has thrust into the middle of an acrimonious deportation saga, comes just three days after his release from criminal custody in Tennessee.
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Democratic leaders across Illinois and the US Congress are condemning Donald Trump’s reported plans to send national guard troops to Chicago, denouncing what they call an unprecedented abuse of presidential power.
The Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, highlighted the city’s recent reductions in crime and accused Trump of manufacturing a crisis to take over the Democratic-run city.
“Mr President, do not come to Chicago,” he said. “You are neither wanted here nor needed here.”
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Donald Trump has moved to fire the Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over allegations she committed mortgage fraud, the latest escalation in the US president’s attack on the central bank’s independence.
Trump wrote to Cook on Monday, telling her that he was removing her from her position “effective immediately” based on the allegation from one of his allies that she had obtained a mortgage on a second home she incorrectly described as her primary residence. The claims have not been confirmed and last week Cook said she had “no intention of being bullied” into stepping down.
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A Republican-led congressional committee has subpoenaed documents from the estate of the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to a release on Monday.
The subpoena was signed by congressman James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee. The estate is registered in the US Virgin Islands.
The move is the latest twist in a flurry of events surrounding the convicted sex trafficker’s links to rich and powerful people, especially Donald Trump, whose rightwing base has long been consumed by conspiracy theories around Epstein.
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The president on Monday signed two executive orders aimed at eliminating cashless bail for people accused of crimes in Washington DC and other jurisdictions, an escalation in his efforts to take control of law enforcement in the capital city and beyond.
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Donald Trump said on Monday he wanted to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and that he was open to further trade talks with South Korea even as he lobbed new criticisms at the visiting Asian ally.
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Donald Trump repeatedly floated plans to rebrand the US Department of Defense by returning to the pre-1947 name Department of War. The president first raised the idea on Monday morning while signing executive orders. He said the term defense department “didn’t sound good”, adding: “It used to be called the Department of War and it had a stronger sound.” Later, while taking questions alongside the president of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, Trump again raised the idea.
Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) risk exposing the US to another Hurricane Katrina, staff at the agency have warned Congress in a withering critique that also takes aim at its current leadership.
Some national guard units patrolling Washington DC at Trump’s direction have started carrying firearms, an escalation of the president’s military deployment that makes good on a directive issued late last week by his defense department.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 24 August 2025.