The Trump team is reportedly not above getting in a fight to make sure Trump stays in the spotlight when supposedly honoring fallen soldiers.Mother Jones; Andrew Harnik/AP; Jasper Jacobs/Belga/ZUMA
Two Trump campaign staffers reportedly got in a fight with an official at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday during a wreath-laying ceremony to honor soldiers who died in the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. (NPR first reported the incident on Tuesday.)
The cause? Trump’s staff allegedly wanted to ensure he’d be photographed honoring the troops, even though federal law “prohibits political campaign or election-related activities,” including photographers, at the cemetery, according to an Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson.
Nonetheless, Trump’s team did manage to turn the event into an opportunity for content, producing and posting a video to their TikTok account, set to somber music, that suggests the soldiers’ deaths were President Joe Biden’s fault. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had more than 6.6 million views. (The video was also posted on Trump’s Instagram page, which posted other footage from the event, too; Trump’s senior advisor Dan Scavino also shared videos on his X page.)
“We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed,” a cemetery spokesperson said Wednesday. They declined to elaborate further on who was involved in the alleged incident or with what agency the report was filed “to protect the identity of the individual involved.” They did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether the TikTok video violates the federal law in question. On Thursday, an Army spokesperson released new details about the incident, claiming a cemetery employee “was abruptly pushed aside” when trying to enforce the rules against political activity. “Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption,” the statement continued, adding that while the incident was reported to police, the employee declined to press charges; The New York Times reports the employee was worried about retaliation from Trump supporters
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the statement said. “ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”
The Trump team tried to shut down the claims, with Communications Director Steven Cheung denying on Wednesday that a “physical altercation” occurred and claiming that the team had permission to have a photographer present. “The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason 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,” Cheung added. He did not immediately respond to follow-up questions Wednesday, nor did the Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson respond to requests for comment on Cheung’s claims.
Cheung also pointed to a post from Trump War Room—an X account run by the campaign—featuring a statement from families of the fallen soldiers expressing their “heartfelt thanks and appreciation” to the former president for his presence at the cemetery.
Trump has not always been respectful of the military. Trump reportedly called Americans who died in war “suckers” and “losers.” (Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly confirmed the statement was true last year.) Trump famously attacked the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a Purple Heart recipient who served in the Navy and spent several years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured,” Trump said of McCain. “I like people who weren’t captured.”
After the most recent incident, Trump’s former Defense Secretary, Mark Esper, could not hide how he felt in response to the former president’s latest alleged disrespect to the memory of fallen soldiers. “There is no more hallowed ground in this nation than Arlington Cemetery,” Esper told CNN. “Bottom line, the principle is that no person or party on either side should ever use Arlington National Cemetery or any of our cemeteries or battlefields for partisan political purposes.”
Update, Aug. 29: This post was updated with a new statement and details provided by an Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson.
