Trump says he would've lowered flags for Melissa Hortman if Walz had asked him to

Elliot Hughes, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 15, 2025

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President Donald Trump said he would have lowered American flags to half-staff in the aftermath of state Rep. Melissa Hortman’s assassination if Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had asked him to.

Trump, who days after the assassination said it would be a “waste” of time to call Walz about it, made his latest remarks while taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.

During the briefing, Trump signed an order to send the National Guard to Memphis to address public safety concerns and took questions on a range of topics, including last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In light of Trump’s decision to lower flags in honor of Kirk, a reporter asked Trump if he thought “it would have been fitting to lower the flags to half-staff when Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota house speaker, was gunned down by an assassin as well?”

Trump answered, “I’m not familiar. The – who?”

“The Minnesota House speaker, a Democrat who was assassinated this summer,” the reporter answered.

“Well, if the governor had asked me to do that I would’ve done that, but the governor of Minnesota didn’t ask me,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t have thought of that, but I would’ve if somebody had asked me. People make requests for the lowering of flags, but oftentimes you have to say no because it would be a lot of lowering. The flag would never be up. Had the governor of Minnesota asked me to do that I would have done that, gladly.”

On Monday, a spokesperson for Walz’s office said, “The governor wishes President Trump would be a president for all Americans.”

Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their home June 14 in what officials have described as a politically motivated attack. Earlier that same morning, state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot and injured in their home by the same shooter, according to law enforcement.

Days later, Trump said, “I’m not calling [Walz],” according to the Associated Press.

“The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?” Trump added.

Walz did speak to the president following the Aug. 27 shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis that left two children dead.

Within hours of the shooting, Trump ordered that American flags throughout the country to be flown at half-staff.

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