Earlier this month, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign reached out to military officials to arrange a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. The visit was intended to commemorate the third anniversary of the Islamic State attack that killed 13 U.S. service members during the Afghanistan evacuation. Despite federal laws that prohibit election-related activities at military cemeteries, concerns grew among Pentagon officials. Arlington, being the most prestigious and hallowed of all U.S. cemeteries, was at the center of these concerns. Officials feared that the former president might turn the visit into a campaign event, yet they didn’t want to prevent him from attending, as per Defense Department officials and internal messages seen by The Washington Post.
The officials wanted to honor the wishes of grieving families who had invited Trump but were wary of his past behavior of politicizing the military. They set specific guidelines to keep political activities away from the sacred grounds where those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country rest. Despite these efforts, a crisis unfolded that officials had hoped to avoid. According to a senior defense official and another source briefed on the situation, a cemetery employee attempted to enforce these rules by stopping Trump’s team from filming at the graves of recently fallen service members. However, a male aide from Trump’s campaign pushed past the employee, insisting that filming was allowed, leaving her stunned.
In response to initial reports of the incident, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung accused, without evidence, the employee of having a “mental health episode.” Defense officials clarified that the employee was simply performing her duty and that Cheung’s claim was untrue. On Wednesday, Cheung further alleged that the employee initiated unwarranted physical contact. Although Cheung promised to release footage supporting his claim, no such footage has been provided. Nevertheless, the campaign posted a TikTok video of the event, contrary to military officials’ efforts to prevent such use of footage. Defense officials stated that this action blatantly violated laws prohibiting partisan activities at military cemeteries.
The visit took place amidst Trump’s struggle to regain momentum in the presidential race, especially after Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. While Trump often presents himself as a staunch supporter of the military, Democrats point to instances where he has publicly and privately criticized service members.
“I just haven’t seen anything this disgusting,” remarked Paul Eaton, a retired Army general and advisor to the liberal group VoteVets, whose father is buried at Arlington. “It is utterly inappropriate to engage in any political activity on a federal property, and conducting self-serving actions in a cemetery that holds the graves of our fallen is, in my view, immoral.”
Defense officials were apprehensive about Monday’s event because Republicans have frequently exploited the bombing incident, which marked a significant low point for the Biden administration, for political gain. Prior to the event, cemetery authorities informed Trump’s team that he could visit in a personal capacity with personal aides, but campaign staff were not permitted. Despite this, campaign advisers attended.
Military officials specified that no hats, signs, or banners would be allowed. No speeches were permitted either. Reporters and photographers were allowed to accompany Trump for a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier but not to Section 60, a 14-acre area where veterans from recent conflicts are interred. Media access was restricted, leaving them unable to witness the confrontation or any other part of Trump’s visit to that area.
The initial portion of the visit went as planned. With full media presence, Trump, accompanied by Marines Tyler Vargas-Andrews and Kelsee Lainhart, both injured in the bombing, laid a wreath at the tomb, which honors U.S. service members whose remains have not been identified or recovered. Following this, the press was directed back to a holding area, with strict instructions that reporters and cameras were not to accompany Trump and the grieving families to Section 60.
However, Trump’s officials believed their own photographer and videographer were not subject to these restrictions, so they proceeded to Section 60. Their presence led to a confrontation with a cemetery employee over the established rules. The identity of the Trump aide involved in the altercation was not known as of Wednesday.
The incident has raised concerns among defense officials about the safety of Arlington staff members. Initially, on Monday, the backlash from liberals, following media reports of Trump’s visit, targeted cemetery staff. However, this has now shifted to troubling language from conservative circles as well.
“If the campaign feels compelled to justify their team’s actions — which included intimidating and physically pushing aside a dedicated public servant at Arlington who was enforcing the rules to protect the sanctity of this sacred place — then that’s their responsibility,” a defense official commented. “The rules were clear, and these individuals chose to disregard them. That’s the bottom line.”
A brief report about the incident was filed with security personnel overseeing the cemetery, according to a senior defense official. Officials from the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service confirmed that the altercation is not under investigation by their agencies.
Chris LaCivita, co-campaign manager, who was present on Monday along with other campaign staff, issued a statement labeling the cemetery employee as a “despicable individual” unworthy of representing the sacred grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. LaCivita also posted a video on X showing Trump laying flowers at the grave of Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, a soldier who died in the bombing, and speaking with his family by phone.
Alongside the campaign’s TikTok video, Trump posed for photographs on Monday at the grave of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, surrounded by her family. One of the photos featured Trump giving a thumbs-up while others smiled. Retired General Paul Eaton called Trump’s gesture “appalling.”
The Trump campaign defended itself by releasing a joint statement from the two Marines injured in the bombing who appeared with Trump, as well as from some of the families of the service members who were killed. They expressed that they had wanted Trump and his camera crew present.
Darin Hoover, whose son, Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover, was killed in the attack, reiterated this point in an interview on Wednesday.
“We invited him. He didn’t reach out to us,” Hoover explained. “Trump has always shown genuine care for us and what happened to our children. For anyone to try to diminish that — both during the wreath-laying and at the graveside — is unconscionable.”
Hoover, along with some other grieving families, had also participated in the Republican National Convention and claimed that Biden had not responded to multiple requests to meet with them. Over time, they felt more aligned with Trump due to negative experiences with Biden, who had upset some Gold Star families by referencing the death of his son Beau, who died of brain cancer after returning from Iraq, during their meetings.
Meanwhile, other veterans and grieving families viewed Trump’s visit as disrespectful to the sacred space that belongs to them and the nation. Section 60 is known as a place where young widows can be seen carefully trimming grass, offering support to fellow Gold Star families, and decorating graves with flowers and personal items. Although visitors have long taken photos at the graves, and sitting presidents have visited before, these were not part of campaign events.
“That’s neither the time nor the place for campaigning,” said Karen Meredith, a board member of VoteVets, whose son, 1st Lt. Ken Ballard, is buried in Section 60’s second row. “They forced their way into this event. There’s a blatant disregard for rules, norms, and the laws governing Arlington — it’s just disrespectful.”
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), an Army veteran who attended the event, supported the families’ wishes and criticized the cemetery employee for overstepping.
“If they had a Trump-Vance banner and campaign signs, or if he had taken the microphone to attack the other side, then I’d understand the concern,” Waltz said. “But that’s not what happened.”
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), used the incident to launch a political attack during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. “We’re going to discuss a story about the 13 brave, innocent Americans who lost their lives,” Vance said, falsely accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of criticizing Trump’s cemetery visit, despite her not commenting on it. A Harris campaign spokesperson called the statement “pretty sad.”
“She wants to yell at Donald Trump for showing up,” Vance said. “She can go to hell.”
Trump has a history of disregarding restrictions on using federal properties for campaign purposes, as seen when he delivered a political speech at Mount Rushmore, participated in a TV interview inside the Lincoln Memorial, and held the 2020 Republican National Convention at the White House. As president, he even pushed, unsuccessfully, for a European-style military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.
At the same time, Trump has often disparaged the sacrifices of American service members. In 2015, he mocked the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for his time as a prisoner of war (“I like people who weren’t captured”), and earlier this month he claimed the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom was “much better” than the military Medal of Honor because those who received the latter were “either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead.”
Former aides have also claimed that Trump made similar derogatory remarks about service members in private, which he denies. Retired Gen. Mark A. Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recalled Trump saying, “No one wants to see that,” when asked to appear with a wounded veteran. Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, claimed Trump called U.S. Marines buried in cemeteries in France “suckers” and “losers.” (Other former aides have stated they never heard these remarks.) Kelly also recounted Trump questioning the purpose of sacrifices during a previous visit to Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery, saying, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
A former senior White House official under Trump commented, “He never understood why anyone would do something that didn’t benefit them personally. Discussing death and sacrifice for the country with him was like speaking a foreign language. This makes it especially hypocritical for him to lay a wreath, given his general feelings about veterans.”
The former official added that it was painful to see grieving families place their trust in Trump.
“These families are clearly in pain, having lost their children who made the ultimate sacrifice, and they believe Trump can help them,” the former official said. “They don’t really know who he is or what he truly stands for. It’s not their fault.”
Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, labeled the former official a “coward” for speaking anonymously.
