Conflicting claims on Trump’s Arlington visit persist, but Harris continues to pound away at it

Republican nominee Donald Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the anniversary of the deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan last month sparked controversy in media coverage and provided ammunition for his political opponent. But, it is still not clear whether a confrontation between Trump’s staff and the cemetery over filming and photography in a restricted area is simply the result of a miscommunication. 

The altercation with Trump representatives reportedly resulted from a cemetery employee’s effort to enforce long-standing rules against the use of the grounds for political or campaign purposes, including taking photographs and videos in a restricted section of the cemetery. 

The incident was reportedly sparked when former President Trump visited Section 60—a division of the cemetery where veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are interred—at the invitation of some Gold Star Family members. 

Trump’s election opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, released a lengthy statement in a post to X, accusing him of politicizing the deaths and the national cemetery. 

“Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Harris wrote. 

But, what actually happened at the cemetery that led to the altercation seized on by Harris and eagerly repeated by mainstream media? 

When a cemetery employee attempted to enforce ground rules that prohibited outside photographers from taking pictures in that zone, two Trump campaign staffers reportedly had a verbal and physical altercation with the the employee, NPR first reported. 

What led up to the incident is less clear. The Trump campaign says it was given permission to take photographs while the cemetery says it was simply enforcing ground rules that it claims to have had already told the campaign about. 

Trump campaign officials pushed back on the characterization in the media, claimed they were given permission to take photographs, and criticized the Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) employee. 

“That fact is that a private photographer was permitted to 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,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. 

Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita told The New York Times that the cemetery official is “a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed [sic] grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.”

Cheung also posted a cropped image that appears to show the Trump team was allowed to have one photographer on the grounds outside the press pool. However, the evidence Cheung posted does not say that the photographer could take pictures anywhere in the cemetery, including the sensitive Section 60 area. 

Official ANC rules do not permit “filming for partisan, political or fundraising purposes, in accordance with the Hatch Act.” The Hatch Act is a federal law that limits political activities of federal employees. 

The ANC also confirmed that federal law prohibits filming or photography within cemeteries. “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 cemetery said in a statement. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.”

The Army Public Affairs Handbook says that Army National Military Cemeteries cannot be used for any partisan political activities and specifies that the restriction also applies to official visits.

“Military installations will not be used by any incumbents or new office-seeking candidates, their staff members, or their campaign representatives for political campaign or election events,” the handbook reads. "Candidates that visit military installations to conduct official business are not permitted to engage in any political campaign or election activity during the visit.”

The handbook also prohibits political media coverage during the visit. 

"When a candidate is invited to participate in official business, and the media seek to cover the event, the candidate may appear on camera and in photographs as an official participant and may make a statement or answer questions about the official business being conducted,” the handbook reads. “Under no circumstances may a candidate receive approval to make a campaign or election-related statement or to respond to a campaign or election-related media query.”

After the cemetery visit, the Trump campaign posted a video to TikTok using footage from the cemetery, including some recorded in the restricted Section 60. The family of one Green Beret, Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano, who died by suicide who is buried next to one of the fallen soldiers from Abbey Gate released statement criticizing the former president that footage of their son’s grave was included in the post. 

“We fully support Staff Sergeant Darin Hoover’s family and the other families in their quest for answers and accountability regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal and the tragedy at Abbey Gate,” the Sgt. Marckesano's sister told The New York Times. “However, according to our conversation with Arlington National Cemetery, the Trump campaign staffers did not adhere to the rules that were set in place for this visit to Staff Sergeant Hoover’s gravesite in Section 60, which lays directly next to my brother’s grave.” 

It is not clear whether the Trump campaign’s attempts to film in the restricted section are the result of a miscommunication with ANC staff or whether the staff disregarded the directions of the cemetery. Neither the Trump campaign nor the ANC responded to requests for comment from Just the News. 

Trump seemed to contradict his campaign officials in a post to Truth Social shortly after and again criticizing the Biden-Harris administration over the Afghanistan withdrawal. 

“There was no conflict or 'fighting' at Arlington National Cemetery last week. It was a made up story by Comrade Kamala and her misinformation squad,” he wrote. "She made it all up to make up for the fact that she and Sleepy Joe have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS for the INCOMPETENT AFGHANISTAN Withdrawal - THE MOST EMBARRASSING DAY IN U.S. HISTORY!!!” 

He also thanked the Gold Star families that invited him to the cemetery for the anniversary of the Abbey Gate terror bombing which left 13 U.S. service members dead. 

“Thank you to my friends, the GREAT GOLD STAR FAMILIES, for revealing the TRUTH OF A BEAUTIFUL DAY OF HONOR. Could not have been a nicer moment-And there were no fights or problems, only in the heads of those that are destroying our Country!” Trump wrote in the post. 

The Army spokesperson also issued a statement on Trump’s visit, claiming Trump and his staff were “made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.” 

“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. 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 statement said.

The Army also said that also the ANC staff member filed a report with police, but decided not to press charges, therefore the Army “considers this matter closed.” 

Social media was flooded with photographs of President Biden making appearances at Arlington, however, media watchdog The Poynter Institute pointed out that Biden was there, authorized in the capacity of his job duties, specifically, a Memorial Day event.