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Report: Trump staff involved in altercation at veterans cemetery

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WASHINGTON – During a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, an altercation broke out between members of former President Donald Trump’s campaign team and a press secretary.

Arlington National Cemetery, the nation's largest and most prestigious military cemetery, said in a statement that “an incident occurred and a report has been filed.” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said a cemetery official “decided to physically stop members of President Trump's team.”

No charges have been filed, a police official told USA TODAY.

The cemetery's statement said federal law prohibits political campaign activities at Army National Cemeteries. Prohibited activities include “photographers, content creators, or other persons present there for the purposes of, or in direct support of, the campaign of a partisan political candidate.”

“Arlington National Cemetery has affirmed this law and its prohibitions and has fully communicated them to all parties involved,” the statement continued.

The incident put Trump's campaign at odds with the custodians who protect the dignity of some of the country's most sacred sites, with his spokesman attacking the official in strikingly personal and derogatory language.

More: “Angry”: Veterans criticize Trump’s team’s confrontation at Arlington National Cemetery

Citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the incident, NPR initially reported that Trump's campaign team was filming in an area of ​​the cemetery where only cemetery workers are allowed to take photos or video. This area – known as Section 60 – contains the graves of the most recent U.S. victims.

“When the cemetery official tried to stop Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, he was verbally abused and pushed aside by campaign staff, the source wrote,” NPR wrote.

A senior Defense Department official familiar with the incident at Arlington National Cemetery told USA TODAY that it was a minor altercation.

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In a statement to USA TODAY, Cheung said there was “no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”

He did not respond to a request for the footage.

“The fact is that a private photographer was allowed access to the grounds and for some reason an unnamed individual, obviously suffering from a mental disorder, decided to block access to members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony,” Cheung added.

More: Donald Trump lays wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery amid support for veterans

The Trump campaign immediately responded when asked which staffers were involved in the altercation, which occurred shortly after Corey Lewandowski – who was fired as Trump's campaign manager in 2016 – joined his 2024 campaign team. Lewandowski was charged with assault for grabbing a reporter during the 2016 campaign, but the charges were dropped.

Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery on the third anniversary of a 2021 attack that killed 13 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. The attack, at Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, came as the U.S. was withdrawing from the country after two decades of war.

Trump cited the deaths to argue that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had mishandled the troop withdrawal.

The Trump campaign released a statement on X of five family members of two soldiers killed at Abbey Gate. The statement thanked Trump for his participation in the wreath-laying ceremony and said: “The President and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity.”

Family members said they had agreed to allow Trump's videographer and photographer to attend the event.

“I can speak for myself and our family, and we absolutely welcomed and appreciated having video and photographs with us during the time we spent with President Trump!” Cheryl Juels, the aunt of slain soldier Nicole Gee, said in a statement from the Trump campaign.

But the cemetery said the filming violated the law. “There is a federal law that prohibits the use of the footage for political purposes,” Fred Wellman, a 22-year Army veteran, said Wednesday. “The families made a statement saying, 'Oh no, we approved this.' They did not. The families do not have the right to make decisions for the other people buried there.”

The cemetery filed a complaint with the Joint Base Meyer Henderson Hall Civilian Police Department, which has jurisdiction over federal property.

An officer at the base who identified himself as Sergeant D. Jones told USA TODAY he could not release details of the report, but added, “We have not filed a police report, no one has been charged, this is simply a report of the incident.”

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