Washington DC - President Donald Trump reportedly decided against signing an executive order that would have directed the Department of Justice to charge people who have burnt the American flag.

White House officials told CNN that Trump is no longer expected to sign the executive order this week, but provided no information on whether he will move forward with the policy at a later date.

The executive order would not have outright criminalized the burning of the American flag, but instead would have directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review whether related charges could be brought under existing laws.

Under the 1989 case of Texas v. Johnson, it was established that "flag burning constitutes symbolic speech that is protected by the First Amendment," making it very difficult to outright ban such an act.

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Instead, it is expected that Bondi would have sought to find other crimes related to the act of burning a flag, possibly reckless endangerment, arson, or another related charge.

The executive order was widely expected to be signed on Thursday, stemming from a NewsNation report that was informed by two top administration officials.

Trump announced his intention to ban flag burning during his 2024 election campaign, originally proposing a constitutional amendment to get the job done.

"I want to get a law passed," Trump told a crowd in Detroit, Michigan last year. "You burn an American flag, you go to jail for one year. We gotta do it."

The proposal was opposed by First Amendment proponents who warned that such an amendment would not end debate on the issue and could actually make the situation much worse.

Trump has long had an issue with flag burning, in 2016 posting that "nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!"