U.S. President Donald Trump looks up as he participates in a roundtable on antifa, an anti-fascist movement he designated a domestic "terrorist organization" via executive order on September 22, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump gave off-the-cuff remarks at a round-table meeting on Wednesday that included Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FBI Director Kash Patel, and others, where he acknowledged his administration has taken away some freedom of speech rights.
Trump talked about his administration demanding a mandatory minimum of one year in prison for "inciting riots."
"We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts, and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag, it agitates and irritates crowds. They've never seen anything like it. On both sides," Trump claimed.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson that flag burning fell under a right protected by the First Amendment.
"You end up with riots. So, we're going on that basis," Trump said, turning to Bondi. "We're looking at it not — from the freedom of speech. I always felt very strongly about it. But it never passed the courts."
Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds." pic.twitter.com/maRI2PKWlV
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2025