Trump Shares Post on Team’s Behavior After Arlington Cemetery ‘Altercation’

Donald Trump has shared a letter of support from family members of soldiers who died in the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan after facing accusations of using an event at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday marking the anniversary of the attack for campaigning purposes and allegations of an altercation involving members of his staff.
The letter, signed by six family members of two of the 13 American soldiers who died in the attack in 2021, said Trump and his team “conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members.” The former president shared the statement on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday night.
NPR reported that a “verbal and physical altercation” had taken place between two members of Trump’s campaign staff and an official at Arlington National Cemetery and the cemetery released a statement on Tuesday saying that there had been an altercation involving members of Trump’s team at the event.
“We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed,” the statement read.
“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,” it added. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
Title 32, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 553.32(c) states: “Memorial services and ceremonies at Army National Military Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities.”
But the family members said they had given Trump’s team prior approval to bring a campaign photographer and videographer to the event, “ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured.”
“We are deeply grateful to the president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time,” they wrote.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesman, told Newsweek there was “no physical altercation as described.”
“We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” he said. “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 later posted a screenshot on X, formerly Twitter, which appeared to show a media permission form stating that Trump was permitted to have a photographer and videographer outside the main media pool.
The wreath-laying ceremony was commemorating an attack outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, 2021, during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The attack resulted in the deaths of 13 American service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Monday’s event at the cemetery has drawn a large reaction on social media. Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, wrote on X that Trump’s attending the ceremony was “an absolute disgrace.”
“Arlington National Cemetery isn’t a place for campaign photo-ops. It’s a sacred resting place for American patriots. But for Donald Trump, disrespecting military veterans is just par for the course,” she wrote.
Veterans for Responsible Leadership, a bipartisan super PAC, wrote on X: “Nothing is sacred to Trump. Not Arlington. Not the Medal of Honor. Not tortured POWs. Not Gold Star families. If you value service AT ALL, you cannot honorably support this guy.”
Earlier in August, Trump drew criticism from veterans for saying that the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom was “much better” than the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military honor, because many Medal of Honor recipients are wounded or dead.
Trump also drew criticism in 2015 when he said that Arizona Senator John McCain was “not a war hero.”
“He’s a war hero because he was captured,” Trump told an Iowa audience. “I like soldiers who weren’t captured.”
McCain was held and tortured as a prisoner of war for five and a half years during the Vietnam War.
Trump also drew the ire of veterans in 2016, when the father of a slain soldier and Gold Star recipient said Trump had “sacrificed nothing,” while his son had given his life for his country. Trump responded by bringing up his own sacrifices.
“I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices,” Trump said in response. “I work very, very hard.”