# When Trump dies, will he lie in state? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [September 3, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557 "2023-09-03T21:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/61 "2023-09-04T14:43:31Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Maybe they’ll paint trumpforce one black to haul his carcass around. MAGAt rallies become funeral services with pay per viewing. ^^^^^^ I think we have a weener(mobile)! 🌭 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/62 "2023-09-04T14:57:10Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > **[This page on history.com](https://www.history.com/news/lying-in-state-tradition)** says it was a Congressional proclamation following JFK’s assassination. And **[this wiki page](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_in_state)** includes the sentence, “Except for Presidents and former Presidents, the honor is not automatic,” indicating that it _is_ automatic for Presidents. I didn’t look further for the text of the Congressional decree or any other legalese to backstop these cites. I found [this page](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R45121.html) with a very thorough description of what happens and who does what for a presidential funeral, including this (my bold): > [@](#): > > a. The President notifies the Congress that he has directed that a State Funeral be conducted. **The Congress, which has sole authority for use of the U.S. Capitol** , makes the Rotunda available for the State Ceremony through its own procedures.[6](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R45121.html#fn6) Footnote 6 from the end of that paragraph points to [this congressional resolution](https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/senate-concurrent-resolution/115), titled: # S.Con.Res.115 - A concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for the lying in state of the remains of the late Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President of the United States. So congress had to act to allow Ronald Reagan to lie in state in the rotunda. It sounds like congress has the option to _not_ do so for any other president. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/63 "2023-09-04T15:21:07Z")
Okay, but immediately preceding that is a paragraph which references those who are “_entitled to_” a state funeral; and your excerpt says the (current) president _directs_ Congress that a state funeral _will be_ conducted, not that a president _requests_ that a funeral _should be_ conducted. So I think their resolution is effectively pro forma, but it would be interesting if they pulled the “yes but what if we don’t” tactic. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/64 "2023-09-04T15:26:58Z")
How about a Rotunda\*-based My Pillow Funeral Pyre. Seems like we haven’t had one of those in far too long. . \*Trump would definitely be putting the “rotund” in “rotunda” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/65 "2023-09-04T15:33:10Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I see a coast-to-coast funeral procession – like Lincoln’s train, except people don’t take trains any more. I was going to do a “When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom’d” parody but honestly, I can’t do that to Walt Whitman. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/66 "2023-09-04T15:50:09Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Okay, but immediately preceding that is a paragraph which references those who are “_entitled to_” a state funeral; and your excerpt says the (current) president _directs_ Congress that a state funeral _will be_ conducted, not that a president _requests_ that a funeral _should be_ conducted I’ll point out that “lying in state in the rotunda” != “state funeral” which includes a whole lot more than that, and doesn’t have to include “rotundage”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/67 "2023-09-04T16:03:00Z")
Frank Jacobs’ version of “O Captain! My Captain!” seems appropriate for Trump: > O Captain! My Captain! our graft has run its course; > I hear the new Commissioner is shaking up the force…. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/68 "2023-09-04T16:18:04Z")
Heh. The Trumpalooza Funeral Tour I predict will set out with high hopes for the grift but will end halfway through with dwindling ticket sales and eventual bakruptcy. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/69 "2023-09-04T18:25:45Z")
next to Ivana at the golf course. Only his kids will attend. [EXCLUSIVE: Ivana Trump's cordoned-off grave is barely visible in completely overgrown area of Trump's 506-acre Bedminster New Jersey golf course | Daily Mail Online](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12400819/Ivana-Trumps-grave-completely-overgrown-Trumps-Bedminster-golf-course.html) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/70 "2023-09-04T20:10:19Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > doesn’t have to include “rotundage”. I predict any funeral involving that corpulent critter will include rotundage. Whether he lies in the Capitol Rotunda is a different issue. More seriously, I agree with you that Presidents may decree a state funeral will be conducted for [whoever]. Which funeral will, or won’t, include the use of the Capitol Rotunda at the sole discretion of Congress. In one sense I’d like to see the bastard live long enough that his crimes are well recognized on both sides of the aisle and Congress votes nearly unanimously against. On the other hand, sooner is always better when disposing of a toxic dumpster fire problem. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/71 "2023-09-04T20:19:46Z")
Bankruptcy is not a problem as long as the money collected up until then is safely tucked away in an offshore account. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/72 "2023-09-04T21:07:01Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Trump’s funerary rites are going to be big and showy. They just are. I can’t see it happening in D.C., though. It’s the shithole political town that Trump claims to hate. And as others have stated, it wouldn’t be suitable for the ultimate grift, which will outweigh any “honor” in his survivors’ minds. He only went to G. H. W. Bush’s funeral because it happened before he realized that he didn’t really have to do traditional stuff he didn’t want to. And he wasn’t invited to Barbara’s or John McCain’s funeral. And that suited him just fine. I don’t imagine that any surviving president (as of now) will attend Trump’s and he certainly won’t be invited or care to go to theirs. He will never, ever be “one of the gang” of ex-presidents. His funeral will be unprecedented (god, I’ve come to hate that word) just as everything else about his presidency is. And gold-colored tacky, can’ forget that. Of course, if he is re-elected and dies in office, all bets are off. I don’t even want to think about that. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/73 "2023-09-04T21:10:56Z")
He lies no matter what state he’s in. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/74 "2023-09-04T21:12:01Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Two words: presidential library. My gawd, what is going to be there? _One Fish, Two Fish_? A complete set of EC comics? _What You Always Wanted to Know about Sex (but Were Afraid to Ask)_ [Trump’s personal copy]? A complete set of _Sports Illustrated_ Swimsuit issues? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/75 "2023-09-04T21:18:41Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > And he wasn’t invited to Barbara’s or John McCain’s funeral. As I remember, he was specifically told that he was not wanted at John McCain’s funeral. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/76 "2023-09-04T21:20:09Z")
> [@SingleMalt](#): > > Wherever Trump lies in state should have a floor drain, so the urine can be hosed off nightly. Nah. Just issue respirator masks to anyone who uses the passphrase: _I’ve come to pee my respects._ let the MAGATs marinate in the stench of the respect to which he was entitled. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/77 "2023-09-04T21:20:54Z")
That’s probably because FDR hadn’t wanted a state funeral or any big event at all, just a simple burial with a graveside service, attended by family and close friends. He hadn’t even shared that with them, and the plans, in writing, were found a few weeks after his death. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/78 "2023-09-04T21:21:57Z")
I’ve heard in recent months that Lauren Boebert and MTG are both “free.” Weirder things have happened, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/79 "2023-09-04T21:23:04Z")
“Ambergris of Trump” If I lie in state Will your righteous hate Felt throughout the States Help to seal my fate? As a potentate I was not so great Have you had of late Thoughts to immolate? I whitewashed my weight Like I did when I’d date I’m in a corpulent state The flames would never abate ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557/80 "2023-09-04T21:24:02Z")
How about Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality”? That the band is a quartet of black men would be even more apropos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-trump-dies-will-he-lie-in-state/989557.md?page=5)