Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, has ordered flags to fly at full-staff on Monday for President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
"I hereby direct that Washington State and United States flags at all state agency facilities be raised to full-staff on Monday, January 20, 2025, in honor of Inauguration Day," Ferguson said.
This, despite the official order by President Biden after the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 that flags at all government and public buildings and grounds across the country fly at half-staff for a 30-day mourning period, which just happens to include Inauguration Day.
It is a tradition when a former president dies to order a 30-day mourning period and order flags at half-staff.
GOV. NEWSOM JOINS HANDFUL OF GOP GOVERNORS RAISING FLAGS TO FULL HEIGHT FOR TRUMP INAUGURATION
Biden said the U.S. flag "should be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions."
Flags will return to half-staff in Washington state on Tuesday to continue the mourning period for Carter.
"Flags should return to half-staff at sunrise on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, and should remain at half-staff until the close of business or sunset on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, in continuance of honoring former President Jimmy Carter for 30 days following his death," Ferguson said.
Ferguson joins California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis as the Democrats who have broken tradition and ordered flags to be raised for Trump's inauguration before the mourning period ends Jan. 28.
The orders from the Democratic governors follow several Republicans who have directed flags to be raised on Monday, including Idaho Gov. Brad Little, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day.
Trump has criticized the possibility of flags being displayed at half-staff for his inauguration following Carter's death.
"The Democrats are all 'giddy' about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at 'half mast' during my Inauguration," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Jan. 3. "They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don't love our Country, they only think about themselves."
"Look at what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years - It’s a total mess! In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast," he continued. "Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Flags were flown at half-staff when former President Nixon was sworn-in for his second term in 1973 after Nixon ordered the flags to be lowered following the death of former President Truman.
Amid the TikTok shutdown, in a rare move, Apple published a statement and a support document listing all affected apps that are inaccessible in the U.S. The iPhone maker typically doesn’t publish information for when it blocks apps. Notably, other ByteDance apps, including CapCut, Lemon8 — which surged in the last few months — and […]
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With TikTok, CapCut, and Marvel Snap shut down in the US, Apple has taken the unusual step of articulating why it’s following the law banning ByteDance apps and removing them from the App Stores for the Mac, iPhone, and other devices.
Before the ban went into effect, the Biden administration released a statement saying enforcement of the law “must fall to the next Administration.” Still, it didn’t stop the law from taking effect this weekend after TikTok’s appeal to the Supreme Court failed.
The support page from Apple says:
Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025.
It goes on to say that people who already have the apps installed won’t have them removed, but at least for the time being, redownloading or restoring them on a new device will not be possible, along with making any in-app purchases or subscriptions, but subscriptions can be canceled.
Meanwhile, people who visit the US from other countries where they’re still available won’t be able to download or update apps while inside US borders.
Apple also provided a list of “some” of the apps linked to ByteDance that are affected:
Now, more than an entire day is left before the Trump administration is sworn in. TikTok pushed for a more definitive statement about the legal risks providers like Apple and Google might face for defying the law in the meantime, but it never came as the White House called TikTok’s response a “stunt.”
Now Apple is making clear that until something changes, it’s following the law as written, and it appears Google is doing the same thing. Google, Apple, and TikTok have not responded to requests for comment from The Verge.
