Trump Team Clashed With Arlington Cemetery Official: Report

As Donald Trump's team visited Arlington National Cemetery Monday for an event honoring American troops who were killed in a deadly attack in Afghanistan, members of his campaign staff reportedly were involved in a physical altercation with a cemetery official, according to NPR .

Citing a source with knowledge of the incident, the outlet said that Arlington officials made it clear only cemetery staff members were authorized to take photographs in the area known as Section 60. Despite this, the source told NPR, two Trump campaign staffers pushed and verbally attacked the cemetery official who was trying to prevent them from entering and taking photos in the area.

When responding from an inquiry over the alleged altercation, Arlington Cemetery confirmed with NPR that "there was an incident, and a report was filed."

Cemetery officials also drew a line between graveside photos normally taken by the average visitor and photos taken for "election-related activities."

"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," read the statement. "Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants."

Trump campaign's spokesman, Steven Cheung, denied that a physical altercation took place and said that they "are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made."

Cheung also claimed, without any evidence, 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."

Trump participated in the wreath-laying ceremony on Monday remembering 13 American soldiers who were killed in a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate at Kabul airport. The Republican presidential nominee later traveled to Michigan to speak to the National Guard Association and used the opportunity to slam Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' and President Joe Biden's handling of the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.

"Caused by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, the humiliation in Afghanistan set off the collapse of American credibility and respect all around the world," Trump said to the crowd including National Guard members and their families. According to the Associated Press, Biden's administration had been following a withdrawal agreement that the Trump administration had signed with the Taliban in 2020. In 2022, a government watchdog group said decisions by both Trump and Biden were major factors that fueled the collapse of Afghanistan's military.

Trump, who avoided the military draft multiple times (as was common for men from wealthy families), has a long history of disparaging U.S. service members and veterans . He recently doubled down on his claim that the the Presidential Medal of Freedom is superior to the military Medal of Honor because the former involves no sacrifice.

His running mate J.D. Vance has also targeted Harris' vice presidential pick Tim Walz, who served for two decades in the Army National Guard, for supposedly dodging a deployment to Iraq, and of engaging in "stolen valor garbage." Amid the many baseless claims made by the Trump campaign, Vance's accusations remain highly dubious .

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