Donald Trump has already faced heavy criticism on social media for smiling and giving a thumbs up during a photo op at Arlington National Cemetery this week, but now there is even more disturbing news about the former president’s stoppage.
Arlington National Cemetery told ABC News that an “incident” had occurred in connection with the photos taken on site and that a report had been submitted. NPR reported on Tuesday that there was a verbal and physical altercation at the cemetery between two members of the Trump campaign team and an employee.
NPR cited a source who said a cemetery official tried to stop Trump campaign staff from filming and taking photos where military personnel are buried. According to the report, cemetery officials made it clear to the campaign that only cemetery staff were allowed to film in that area. NPR reported that when the cemetery official tried to stop Trump’s campaign team from filming, his staff “verbally abused and pushed” the official aside.
But Trump’s view of things is completely different.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told NPR that “a private photographer was allowed onto the premises and for some reason an unnamed individual, obviously suffering from a mental disorder, decided to physically block the path of members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.”
Aside from the allegation from Arlington National Cemetery itself, several photos on social media appear to show Trump standing at gravesites, smiling and giving a thumbs up. The pose at a gravesite during a solemn occasion caused a stir on social media.
“Thumbs up today at the grave”, Ron Filipkowski wrote while sharing a photo of Trump in the cemetery, smiling and posing. “Great photo opportunity. Nobody fakes sincerity like Trump. Have fun, everyone. MAGA!”
There were many more such – and much more colorful – views on Elon Musk’s “X”.
Trump visited the cemetery on the third anniversary of the attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan as the U.S. withdrew its troops. That attack killed 13 soldiers, and Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for those losses.
Biden and Harris did not attend the event, which was originally used as a campaign rally for Trump before staged photos at the gravesites surfaced on social media.
The recent report on the cemetery adds another layer to the story.
“Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activities at Army National Cemetery military cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or others present there for the purposes of or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” Arlington National Cemetery said in a statement to ABC. “Arlington National Cemetery has reinforced this law and its prohibitions and has widely communicated them to all attendees. We can confirm that there was an incident and a report was filed.”
Cheung shared a screenshot on X This appears to be in line with a policy that states that Trump “may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool.”
However, according to ABC, In addition, campaign staff took and published photographs, including images and excerpts from the restricted area – called Section 60 – in the cemetery.
Cheung claims that the campaign has a video of the incidents and will release it if necessary.
He also shared a statement from family members of two of the fallen soldiers – Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover and Sgt. Nicole Gee – thanking Trump for attending the event. The statement said Trump and his team “conducted all of our soldiers, especially our beloved children, with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity.”
You can see that here.
It will be interesting to see if further information is available about the incident now that the cemetery has filed a report and if Cheung actually releases a video of the incidents.
