Trump, a longtime Cheney critic, keeps quiet on former vice president’s death
By Betsy Klein, CNN
(CNN) — While condolences for former Vice President Dick Cheney have poured in from both sides of the aisle, President Donald Trump has not addressed his death on Tuesday nor shared anything about it among his many posts on social media.
Neither has Vice President JD Vance. The White House offered a muted reaction, including a perfunctory response from press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told reporters at Tuesday’s press briefing that Trump was “aware” of Cheney’s death and noted that flags have been lowered to half-staff.
The reaction was in keeping with Trump’s long-standing disdain for the former vice president, which he voiced long before he ever campaigned and won on dismantling the GOP establishment at the crux of Cheney’s ascent to power.
“I didn’t like Cheney when he was a vice president. I don’t like him now,” Trump said in a 2011 video taped from his Trump Tower desk.
Cheney, a hardline conservative, endorsed Trump’s 2016 run for president, but crossed the aisle in 2024 to endorse Kamala Harris.
The Trump-Cheney relationship deteriorated significantly after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The former vice president sharply criticized Trump as a “coward” and a threat to the republic in an ad supporting his daughter, then-Rep. Liz Cheney, in her 2022 reelection campaign, which she lost in the primary to a Trump-backed challenger. Liz Cheney served as vice chair of the House select committee investigating the attack.
In endorsing Harris, Dick Cheney said in a statement that citizens “have a duty to put country above partisanship.”
Leavitt on Tuesday did not respond to inquiries as to whether Trump planned to speak at Cheney’s funeral or if he had spoken with members of the Cheney family.
“I know the president is aware of the former vice president’s passing, and as you saw, flags have been lowered to half-staff in accordance with statutory law,” she said.
White House flags were lowered hours after Cheney’s death was announced on Tuesday morning, but the moment was not accompanied by a presidential proclamation.
Federal laws govern flying American flags at half-staff. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, flags at all federal buildings, grounds and naval vessels must fly at half-staff for 30 days after the death of a president or former president, and 10 days for a vice president, Supreme Court chief justice or speaker of the House. For former vice presidents, flags must fly at half-staff between the day of death and interment.
When Trump took office on January 20, the White House flag was flying at half-staff in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29, 2024. Trump, who once called the Democrat a “nice man” but “terrible president,” signed a presidential proclamation within hours of his swearing-in, requiring the flag to be raised to full-staff on Inauguration Day.
But flying the flag at half-staff for other officials is at the president’s discretion. Trump has extended the honor three times during his second term: to assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September, to the victims of a school shooting at a Minneapolis church in August, and Pope Francis in April.
Trump reflected on his relationship with Cheney briefly during a town hall with Tucker Carlson days before the 2024 election – weeks after Cheney endorsed Harris.
“I was surprised a little bit with Dick Cheney. I didn’t know him at all,” Trump said, adding that they had spoken after Trump pardoned ex-Cheney aide Scooter Libby in 2018.
He added: “I was a little surprised because I actually thought that Dick Cheney would go with me over his daughter and he didn’t. And you know what? I understand it. It’s your daughter and you go.”
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire
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