A new report from The Washington Free Beacon suggests that Donald Trump’s State Department have enacted a “one flag policy”, banning Black Lives Matter and Pride flags from being flown at US facilities – both domestic and abroad.
JOE has not seen a copy of the official order and, as a result, the reported ban remains to be verified.
The Beacon, however, claim that they obtained a copy, and that it stated: “Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorised to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content.”
Publications such as Newsweek and The Independent have also reported that the order of a “one flag policy” came directly from the new Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
According to The Beacon, the ruthless order outlines that, aside from the stars and stripes, the only flags which are permitted to fly at U.S. embassies and overseas missions are the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action, officially recognized as a national symbol by Congress in 1990, and the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee flag, adopted in 2023.
The reports follow Trump’s signing of an executive order earlier this week, terminating all diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI) within the federal government.
A memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management later ordered that all federal DEI employees be placed on paid leave, as the administration works to abolish these initiatives.
During his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump also vowed that the U.S. Government would only recognize two genders, a stance later cemented as official policy through an executive order.
During Joe Biden’s four years in the White House, Pride and Black Lives Matter flags frequently flew over U.S. government buildings to express solidarity with marginalised groups.
The Biden White House also allowed the State Department to fly an assortment of pride flags alongside the official American banner, drawing outrage among Republicans in Congress.
During Trump’s first term in office, the President repeatedly rejected requests from U.S. embassies and consulates to raise the pride flag.
Yesterday, it emerged that President Trump’s executive order on gender identity meant that every person in the US is ‘legally classified as a female.’
The order declares that a person belongs to the gender they are “at conception.”
But some have pointed out that, according to this wording, the new order has a pretty significant scientific flaw.
In a post on X, Matthew Chapman explained that all human embryos initially start by developing female sex organs, meaning that, if gender is decided at conception, every person in America is “now legally classified as female.”
“All embryos begin by developing female sex organs, with male sex organs only replacing them at around 6 weeks of gestation.”
Others also pointed out the error, with one person saying Trump had “just abolished all men.”
Related: BBC fact checked over misleading winter fuel payment story