Trump visit to Arlington Cemetery sparks alleged altercation with aides

The Trump campaign posted a video Wednesday that was recorded at Arlington National Cemetery, two days after an alleged altercation in which defense officials said a cemetery staff member sought to enforce guidelines the campaign had received not to take photos and videos near the graves of U.S. service members killed in recent years.

The campaign video, which was posted to TikTok, showed former president Donald Trump appearing during a third anniversary ceremony Monday memorializing 13 U.S. troops who were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul during the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan. Trump is seen in the video at the Tomb of the Unknowns and walking among marble headstones as soft guitar music plays and Trump is heard criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal.

Defense officials said a confrontation occurred during the event Monday in which a cemetery staff member warned people employed by the Trump campaign that while they were permitted to take photos and videos in the cemetery, they could not do so in Section 60, the final resting place for many U.S. service members who were killed in recent conflicts, a defense official familiar with the situation said Wednesday. The guidance was issued to the campaign both before the memorial event and again once they were on-site due to legal restrictions on campaign-related activities there, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Trump had been invited to a memorial event to mark the deaths of 13 U.S. service members by some of the grieving families, according to the defense official and campaign officials.

“What was abundantly clear cut was: Section 60, no photos and no video,” the defense official said.

A person familiar with the matter told NPR, which first reported the incident Tuesday, that the Trump campaign staff pushed and verbally attacked a cemetery official who tried to stop them from taking photos and videos in Section 60.

But Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that “there was no physical altercation as described,” that the campaign was given permission to bring a photographer and that it is “prepared to release footage” to defend against “defamatory claims.”

Cheung also claimed, without providing evidence or details, that “an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.”

Responding to an inquiry about an alleged altercation during Trump’s visit, Arlington National Cemetery issued a statement that read: “We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.” The organization did not share more details. It was not immediately clear to whom the report was filed, but the incident occurred on U.S. Army property. Army headquarters did not immediately respond to requests Tuesday night for clarification. The Army’s criminal investigation division said it was not notified of the incident.

Allison Jaslow, chief executive of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said in a statement that Arlington National Cemetery is a hallowed place that should be off limits to partisan activity.

“Any aspiring elected official, especially one who hopes to be Commander in Chief, should not be confused about that fact,” Jaslow said. “Nor should they hide behind members of our community to justify politicking on such sacred ground.”

Visitors have long taken graveside photographs in Arlington National Cemetery, which is considered hallowed ground in the U.S. military. But in a statement released Tuesday, defense officials drew a distinction between a campaign’s actions and those of typical visitors.

“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” the cemetery’s statement said. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”

The defense official familiar with the issue backed the cemetery employee, saying that while the campaign was permitted to bring a photographer to the cemetery, “it was right” to remind campaign employees that there were different rules in other parts of the facility.

The Trump campaign did not immediately share the footage it claimed to have.

On Tuesday night, the campaign shared a statement from five relatives of slain U.S. service members who said they gave permission for Trump’s official photographer and videographer to join the cemetery visit Monday and wanted the event to be “respectfully captured.”

“The president and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the liberal veterans group VoteVets said Trump should fire the people who clashed with cemetery staff.

Trump visited the cemetery Monday, the third anniversary of an Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing that unfolded outside the Kabul airport as the United States carried out an evacuation from Afghanistan, killing 13 American service members and about 170 Afghans. The operation had been initiated after the U.S.-backed government in Kabul fell to the Taliban several months after President Joe Biden ordered the full withdrawal of U.S. troops after 20 years of war.

As president, Trump struck a deal with the Taliban to exchange prisoners and set a timetable to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan. But he criticized the ultimate exit during the Biden presidency, saying the execution was botched.

The GOP presidential nominee joined a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns and spoke with relatives of those killed in the Kabul bombing, as his campaign attacked the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan exit.

“This month marks the three-year anniversary of the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,” Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social account that day.

The allegations come as Trump pitches himself as a champion of the military but also faces scrutiny of his comments on veterans. Trump’s former chief of staff, John F. Kelly, has publicly accused him of referring to American war casualties as “suckers,” an allegation Trump denies.

Trump also drew fire this month for saying that an award recognizing civilian contributions to society is “much better” than one bestowed on members of the military because many of those who receive that award are wounded or killed in combat. And during his first presidential campaign Trump feuded with a Gold Star family that publicly criticized him and offended many veterans with his attacks on former Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Trump said McCain was “not a war hero” and belittled his capture and torture in Vietnam, declaring that “I like people who weren’t captured.”

Top campaign adviser Chris LaCivita said in a statement Tuesday that Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery at the invitation of Gold Star families who lost loved ones in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He added: “For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed [sic] grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.”

LaCivita, who was wounded in combat as a Marine, has led GOP efforts to criticize Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz’s descriptions of his military record, and he previously helmed the Republican campaign to attack John F. Kerry’s military service in the 2004 election.

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Hau Chu contributed to this report.