Trump orders flags at half-staff to honour late Justice Ginsburg

US President Donald Trump has ordered that flags across the country be flown at half-staff to honour Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 87.

As part of the order contained in a presidential proclamation released late Friday by the White House, flags will be flown at half-staff at the White House and all public buildings and grounds, military bases, naval stations and overseas diplomatic facilities until Ginsburg is laid to rest, reports Xinhua news agency.

Flags at the White House and the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building were already lowered as Trump returned to the White House on Friday night following his campaign rally in Minnesota.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also ordered the lowering of flags on Capitol Hill, as is tradition.

Ginsburg died on Friday due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, the Supreme Court said in a statement, adding that a private interment would be held at Arlington National Cemetery, without revealing the specific date for the ceremony.

Ginsburg was nominated to the bench by then president Bill Clinton in 1993.

Trump in the proclamation praised Ginsburg, the second female Supreme Court justice in US history and leader of the court's liberal wing, which is now in the minority, calling her a "trailblazer".

Describing Ginsburg as "an inspiration to all Americans," Trump said the late Justice was "renowned for her powerful dissents at the Supreme Court" and that her "work helped bring about greater equality for women, secure rights for the disabled, and will continue to influence our Nation for generations to come".

Praising her "quick mind", the president said Ginsburg "brought flair to the bench with her stylish jabots and her warm friendships among colleagues, even those with whom she often disagreed, most notably with the late Justice Antonin Scalia".