Trump Campaign Staff Reportedly Had Altercation with Arlington National Cemetery Official During Photo Op

Mar. 15, 2025

Donald Trump looks on during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024.Photo:Anna Moneymaker/Getty

Anna Moneymaker/Getty

Former PresidentDonald Trump’s campaign staff reportedly caused a scene at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

On Monday, Aug. 26, members of the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign team allegedly had a verbal altercation with a cemetery official that turned physical, according toNPR.

Trump was at the historic military cemetery to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony that honored the third anniversary of adeadly attack on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, the outlet reports.

Donald Trump visits Arlington Cemetery.Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto/Getty

Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto/Getty

A source told NPR that a cemetery official prevented Trump’s team from filming and taking photographs in an off-limits area called Section 60, where “service members killed in action in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom” are buried, per the cemetery’swebsite.

The insider claimed that Trump’s staff were previously made aware of the rule, which states that only cemetery workers are allowed to take videos and photographs in the section. When the official went to stop the staff from entering the area, they allegedly verbally and physically abused the official, and pushed them aside.

Arlington National Cemetery confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement that “an incident” occurred during Trump’s visit.

“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 statement said.

“Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants,” the statement continued. “We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed. To protect the identity of the individual involved, no further information about the incident is being released at this time.”

Donald Trump lays a wreath during a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.Anna Moneymaker/Getty

However, Trump’s campaign staff are taking issue with how the incident has been described.

Senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita said in a statement shared with PEOPLE that “President Trump was there on the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”

The senior campaign staffer claimed that NPR’s source is “dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country.”

Cheung further accused the cemetery official of experiencing a “mental health episode.”

“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,” he said.

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“Three years ago, Kamala’s and Biden’s incompetence left 13 dead warriors, hundreds of civilians killed and grievously wounded, and $85 billion worth of the finest military equipment on the planet abandoned to the Taliban,” he wrote in a caption.

USA Todayreportsan inaccuracy in his claim, stating, “The Taliban took possession of an estimated $7 billion in military hardware provided to the Afghan National Army.”

source: people.com