America mourns former President Jimmy Carter ahead of state funeral

Former US President Jimmy Carter sits for an interview in January 2012.

Former US President Jimmy Carter sits for an interview in January 2012.

REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

As Americans mourn former US President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at 100, preparations are underway for his Jan. 9 state funeral. President Joe Biden has declared it a National Day of Mourning, which will be preceded by memorial events in Washington, DC, and Georgia.

In Carter’s honor, American flags are to be flown at half-staff for 30 days – including during incoming president Donald Trump’s inauguration – and the former president will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda for public visitations from Jan. 7 until his funeral.

Trump – who had frequently, and recently, criticized Carter’s service as president – says he will attend the funeral and said the former president was “a truly good man” who had this “highest respect.” Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama are also expected to attend.

Click here for Ian Bremmer's look at Carter's foreign policy legacy.

More from GZERO Media

A logo of Nippon Steel is pictured in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo on March 15, 2024. US President Joe Biden opposed planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, a Japanese Firm, on March 14th.
The Yomiuri Shimbun

President Biden is expected to block Nippon Steel's $14 billion acquisition of US Steel on national security grounds, with his decision expected as early as Friday.

Police vans are lined up in front of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence in Seoul on Jan. 3, 2025.

The Yomiuri Shimbun via Reuters

It’s a standoff. Officers from South Korea’s anti-corruption authority arrived at the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s on Friday morning to serve an arrest warrant over his attempt to impose martial law last month. Confronted by a crowd of Yoon supporters and a military unit, they were unable to execute the warrant.

Saudi Arabia's Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman meets Syria's newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 2, 2025.
Saudi Press Agency/Handout via

On Wednesday, a Syrian delegation that included Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, and intelligence chief Anas Khattab arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, for thenew Syrian government’s first diplomatic trip abroad.

People carry a dead body in a body bag on a stretcher near the site where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 2, 2025.
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

“We’re confident, at this point, that there are no accomplices,” said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia on Thursday at a press briefing about Shamsud-Din Jabbar.