Trump Orders Flags to Half-Staff for Capital Gazette Victims, in Apparent Reversal

He can return the salute of a North Korean general, a nation we are technically still at war with, but no respect for members of the media.

With the non-stop mass shootings taking place on a daily basis, wouldn't it be much easier to simply keep the flags at half -staff permanently?

I'm so dog tired of an administration that can only do the right thing after it gets bad press for doing the wrong thing.

Kudos to Trump. The press is generally obnoxious and deserve criticism but they deserve to be protected and certainly never harmed.

I doubt that Putin feels obliged to fly Russian flags at half mast when his journalist critics like Anna Politskovskaïa are gunned down, so Trump must feel somewhat peeved that he has to do it for members of the press that he so frequently refers to as “enemies of the people.”

I'm not surprised he didn't want to honor journalists in any form. He's made his beliefs quite known since the primaries how much hatred he has for the press. I believe his hatred for newspapers extends itself to the tariffs. Ninety-percent of the newsprint imported into the US comes from Canada. Imposing the tariffs force publishers (nee hedge fund companies) to shut down local newspapers. The truth is shut out. Fox and Facebook win. SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSPAPER.

This shows that even Trump can change his mind! ===================================== There is hope for the nation. Perhaps, there is hope for a Democratic win in the US House, in November. In JFK's inaugural address he said: "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." We have become so rigid and set in our ways in America. Thus, we get this president, who cannot debate, only debase. Let us pray!

Given the state of gun deaths should not the flag be permanently lowered to half staff - else the White House is saying that some deaths matter more than others?

Why did the White House wait to order the lowering of the flag? That order usually comes very quickly and without anyone having to ask. Obviously, the WH did not do that. Sarah Huckasanders is lying again. If the Mayor contacted his congressperson(s), that senator or representative would know exactly who to contact and it would have happened. This administration has already painted a target on every journalist (except fox news staff) and, with this delay, is denying journalists the respect and concern they deserve. Trust trump to mock the tragically dead.

Guess the so-called president got word the check had cleared.

Rest assured that Donald J. Trump isn't even aware the flags were lowered. He will take one of his childish, inarticulate fits when he finds out. After all, these were journalists working for the legitimate press; enemies of the State.

Just another day of shady operations at the White House. We all know darned well Trump refused to lower the flags because the dead are journalists. Then the optics of said denial became obvious and Ms. Sanders puts on her liar's cap and wiggles around the truth. It's pathetic how lame this administration is.

Can't believe such a hateful and wholly incompetent person sits in OUR White House. Sad, indeed.

Um how bad is it that this White House can't even handle a simple request for flags to be lowered at half-mast? I'm supposed to believe that the Administration denied this request because it came from the State's Congressional Delegation?!? Best case - they can't handle anything and who knows what else will get 'lost in the shuffle.' Worst case is that they very well knew and someone denied it because of who the victims are. I'm glad the Mayor and community are happy (I guess), but it's more than disconcerning that it takes a news report to get the attention of the Office of the President . . . surprise eludes us all . . .

Does anyone follow the Flag Code anymore? The flag is to be flown at half-staff in very limited situations, and that's as it should be. Otherwise we run into exactly these sorts of arguments: how many people have to be dead, natural disaster vs. man-made, etc. Why fly the flag at half-staff because a random shooter killed several people at once and not when children are being killed in the streets every day? Fly it at half-staff "upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession" and at other times set forth in the Flag Code. Period.

The mayor needs the president's permission to lower the flag? When it was not forthcoming he should have just done it anyway - what would Trump do? Fire him? The reversal is obvious - bad optics. On the other hand this administration is so messed up they can't get their disorganization straight. Sanders' statement that they weren't clear where the request came from is lame. This administration is literally the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Maybe there is protocol that the mayor has to follow - but next time, just do it.

This whitehouse is gaslighting us.

Jeepers! President Trump is damned if he lowers the flag and damned if he does not. Get a grip. Any shooting is sad and lowering the flag in honor of a tragic shooting is a nice thing to do.

Honor delayed is honor denied, in this case. So petty.

Trump used this tragedy to turn the spotlight on himself twice. First to deny the half-mast, then to allow it. He will do anything to feed the news cycle and divert attention.

As soon as the president heard, he ordered the flags lowered. The check is in the mail, the tooth fairy is real and the moon is made of green cheese.

We're all at the whim of this guy practicing how to be President. Has there been a sighting of our Legislative Branch lately?

The thin-skinned vulgarian is not immune to public pressure after all. We must keep this in mind as we continue to push back against his authoritarian, inhumane agenda. No justice, no peace.

I'm surprised the Bully/Liar in Chief would order this, since he so hates the media for printing the truth about him and the rest of the GOP. No decency in the man, and this tiny action doesn't change that.

And who do you think incited violence against the press, who by the trumpeter's words are the enemy.

"...as soon as the president heard about the request from the mayor." Really? The truth, I am certain, is that his advisors needed to coax him as to this action, that it was needed to belie the reality of his most flawed soul and heart and his tenacious, relentless goal to spew vile toward all ethical journalists.

the mayor did not speak directly to Trump so the premise is fabricated

Of course the request was initially denied.

NYT should track every Trump reversal like this where the reversal occurred after news reports were published. Journalists are the last remaining check on this would-be authoritarian regime, and NYT should list and highlight those checks.

This is symbolically good on its face, but likely pandering to pro-gun lobby. No such action after the recent widely publicized Florida school shooting, and others. Nothing about gun control. Nothing about addressing causes of such violence.

Well, because. Trump wasn’t finished hugging the flags. Give the man a break. Then of course realizing that this, like every decision he makes based on spite and ego, was backfiring, he rushed to paper it over. So now he can rewrite history by saying HE ordered the flags lowered.

"Trump Orders Flags to Half-Staff for Capital Gazette Victims, in Apparent Reversal" Proving that he thinks nothing through; everything is either reactionary, played to both sides, or deliberately volatile to garner ratings. And that, he thinks, is being smart. What a genius.

Donald Trump “apparently reverses” himself on more issues than any U.S. political leader in history. I wish the media would stop characterizing his wreckless decisions as “apparent reversals.” It amounts to pandering.

It is very generous of Mayor Buckley to accept Sanders’ excuse about verifying a “third party” request for the flag honor. As was the case here, typically such requests go through the Congressional delegation, so “verifying” it as a legitimate request is at the least an insult to Maryland’s Congressional delegation as not being trustworthy. More likely the rejection was intentional and the blowback had to be managed.

Does anyone really look to our "president" as a moral compass? Really. The nation mourns the loss of these dedicated journalists, regardless of the position of the White House flag.

After all of the negative things trump has said and tweeted about the press, it's difficult to see this as anything except an expression of fake compassion. Truly, I wish it wasn't so, but it's impossible to take anything this administration does or says at face value.

Current flag position not withstanding, hateful message received loud and clear Mr. Trump. What has become of us?

No common decency. No respect for human life in this White House. How ironic that hypocritical Republicans claim to be the pro-life party. The qualifications for whose lives get defended and celebrated gets more narrow each day. Last week it basically covered unborn fetuses and Sarah Sanders' ability to eat in the restaurant of her choice.

Since when does the White House order flags flown at half-mast only if it receives a request directly from some official? Since when is such a request channeled through a "congressional delegation" considered to be suspect and requiring verification? Does the White House seriously expect us to believe that Trump is powerless to take the initiative and order flags to be lowered on his own authority because it's the appropriate gesture to make? Let's be real: Trump's reflex was to avoid any action respecting, and legitimizing, the press. And, when the public's disgust with his callousness became overwhelming, he reversed himself yet again -- how many times is that in the last few weeks? -- and had his staff concoct this fiction to cover it up.

As a resident of this town I was saddened, but not surprised, to hear of Trump's initial decision to not order flags to be flown at half-staff. I presumed that since the newspaper was part of the Baltimore Sun ownership that he considered the Capitol-Gazette part of the problem and not worth the recognition. When I tweeted about the decision, people quickly Tweeted me back to explain two things; he doesn't have the time to worry about these issues, and that we don't, as a country, need to acknowledge every shooting otherwise our flags would never be raised - yes, someone actually said that to me. To all, I responded that the shooting in Annapolis was no less important than Parkland or Las Vegas when Trump ordered the flags flown at half-staff. So now I see the flags around me lowered and I am left to think that Trump got another one wrong, like deciding to separate children from their parents and then rescinding that practice while all the time blaming other people. It is sad that all things during the time of Trump have become political. It is sad that a man was able to purchase a shotgun and fully signal his intent on Twitter and Facebook and brutally gun down 5 people and severely wound two others. It is sadder that Annapolis will now be remembered alongside all the other cities known for horrific mass murders.