Trump orders flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days to honor Bush

President Trump on Saturday ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff for 30 days to honor former President George H.W. Bush following his death on Friday.

“President Bush led a great American life, one that combined and personified two of our Nation’s greatest virtues: an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to public service. Our country will greatly miss his inspiring example,” Trump said in a presidential proclamation.

{mosads}“It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of one of America’s greatest points of light, the death of President George H.W. Bush.”

The proclamation also declared Wednesday, Dec. 5, as a national day of mourning. U.S. stock markets will also be closed that day, spokespeople announced Saturday.

“I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President George H.W. Bush. I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance,” Trump’s proclamation said.

Trump and Bush were not known to be close, with Trump criticizing the former president’s “a thousand points of light” phrase, saying at campaign rallies that “I never quite got that one.”

Members of the Bush family also criticized Trump at various points, with Bush confirming that he voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump in the 2016 election, saying he considered Trump to be a “blowhard.”

However, Trump praised the late president in a statement following news of his death on Friday at the age of 94.

“Through his essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service—to be, in his words, ‘a thousand points of light’ illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world,” Trump said in the statement.