Donald Trump, in his first public comments on the situation at Arlington National Cemetery, denied it was a campaign event and called the staff at the site ‘bad people.’
The former president said he went because it was invited by Gold Star Families and that he took photos at gravesites because he was asked to. He also added that he doesn’t ‘need the publicity.’
Trump, who has frequently criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the drawdown in Afghanistan, took it a step further: he accused Joe Biden and Kamala Harris of killing the families’ children ‘by incompetence.’
‘Those families that asked me to be there,’ he said during a campaign rally in Michigan on Thursday. ‘So I went. And while we were there, they said, Could you take pictures over the grave of my son, my sister, my brother? Would you take pictures with us, sir? I said, Absolutely, I did.’
It was while those pictures were taken that a staff member at Arlington National Cemetery tried to stop the Trump campaign’s photographer and videographer. The two sides differ on the details.
Trump said it was all ‘Washington’ politics.
‘This all comes out of Washington, just like all of these prosecutors come out of Washington,’ he said, referring to the legal cases against him.
‘These are bad people we’re dealing with,’ he said of the Arlington National Cemetery staff.
The Army defended the staff member at Arlington National Cemetery who clashed with Trump staff during the incident in a restricted area of the cemetery.
Trump went on to criticize his Democratic rivals, noting no one was fired by the Biden administration for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which saw 13 American soldiers killed in a suicide bombing.
‘When you think about it, Joe Biden killed their children by incompetence. Should have never happened. Kamala killed their children – just as though they had a gun in their hand – by gross incompetence,’ he said.
‘Then they accused me of having a picture taken at the tombstone with a family,’ he added. ‘Because they loved the president. They loved me and I loved them.’
He also argued that ‘the one thing I get is plenty of publicity. I don’t need that. I don’t need the publicity.
The fallout from Trump’s visit is in its fourth day with neither side backing down from their claims of what happened.
In a long and unusual statement on Thursday, the Army noted the Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) staffer acted with ‘professionalism’ and said she was ‘abruptly pushed aside’ by Trump officials when she tried to enforce a federal law that forbids campaign activity at the cemetery.
However, since the staffer is not going to press charges, the Army said they considered the matter ‘closed.’
It was a rare rebuke from the military about a former commander in chief. And it comes amid a deepening row between Trump and Gold Star Families about the incident.
The families that invited the former president to join them at the cemetery have defended him, but other families who lost loved ones in service to U.S. have criticized Trump for posting photos and video of the visit to his campaign accounts.
Arlington National Cemetery is considered hallowed ground in the U.S. military and is managed by the Army.
Trump, who is running for a second term in the White House, was invited to visit on Monday with family members of the some of the soldiers killed three years ago when U.S. troops exited Afghanistan. He was there to help them mark the annivesary of the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate and honor the soldiers who died.
His campaign said they had permission ahead of time to bring a photographer.
And officials told Axios they are ‘weighing options’ about releasing their internal footage backing up their version of the story.
They claim a staffer with the cemetery tried to ‘physically block’ members of Trump’s team during the visit and claimed the staffer had 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,’ Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
While at the cemetery on Monday, Trump laid three separate wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then went with the families to Section 60. His campaign posted a video of both parts of the visit on its TikTok account. And several staffers posted photos to social media
But the Army hit back, noting the campaign, ahead of the visit, was ‘made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.’
‘An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,’ an Army spokesperson said in the statement on Thursday.
‘Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption. The incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore the Army considers the matter closed,’ the spokesperson noted.
‘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.’
Military officials told the New York Times that the cemetery staffer feared that pursuing the matter with the authorities at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia, which has jurisdiction over the cemetery, could subject her to retaliation from Trump supporters.
Pentagon officials were deeply concerned about Trump turning the visit into a campaign stop, but they also didn’t want to block him from coming, reported The Washington Post.
The officials gave the campaign ‘ground rules’ in an attempt to keep politics out of visit.
Ahead of the former president’s visit, Army officials told Trump’s team that he could come in his personal capacity and bring personal aides, but not campaign staff.
Campaign staff went anyway.
‘If the campaign feels the need to defend their team’s actions — which include bullying and physically pushing out of the way a longtime public servant and member of the team at Arlington working to protect the sanctity of the sacred spaces — then that’s on them,’ a defense official told The Post.
‘The rules were made clear to participants, and these two chose to disregard those rules. End of story.’
Trump has been heavily critical of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, calling it ‘gross incompetence.’
The visit also allowed Trump to counter reports he doesn’t respect veterans and has previously referred to slain World War II soldiers as suckers and losers, reports Trump has denied.
While at Arlington cemetery, the former president laid three wreaths at the tomb, two honoring Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover and Sgt. Nicole Gee – two Marines killed in the bombing – and another wreath dedicated to all 13 service members who were killed in the attack.
He was joined by Marine Cpl. Kelsee Lainhart (Ret.) and Marine Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews, both of whom were injured at the Abbey Gate Bombing.
Monday marked three years since the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 American service members and more than 100 Afghans. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.
After the wreath laying, Trump and the families went to Section 60, the final resting place for those who died fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan – a place regularly visited by spouses and family members of the fallen.
Media were not allowed to accompany the former president to that section of the cemetery.
Trump posed for photos with the family and laid flowers at the tombs of some soldiers who died, according to images posted on social media by his team.
While families often take photos at gravesites of loved ones, federal law prohibits any political activity in the cemetery.
Sitting presidents have visited Section 60 but never as part of a political campaign.
The families of the fallen said they had invited Trump and gave ‘our approval for President Trump’s official videographer and photographer to attend the event, ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured and so we can cherish these memories forever.’
But the family of a Green Beret who served eight combat tours and is buried in Section 60 expressed concern about Trump’s campaign filming his gravesite without permission.
Relatives of Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano told the New York Times that Trump’s campaign had not followed the rules when it came to visits.
Marckesano’s gravesite is adjacent to that of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, a Marine who was killed in Abbey Gate bombing.
The Hoover family granted Trump’s team permission to film and take photographs at the gravesite but the Marckesano family did not.
Marckesano’s grave was shown in photos from the visit that were published online.
Marckesano’s sister Michele told the Times: ‘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.’
‘However,’ she added, ‘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.’
She continued, ‘We hope that those visiting this sacred site understand that these were real people who sacrificed for our freedom and that they are honored and respected accordingly.’
Arlington National Cemetery is the resting place for more than 400,000 service members, veterans and their families.