Trump has long pitched himself as a champion of the military, despite his record of disparaging service members.
On Monday, former President Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery in the Virginia suburbs of Washington to mark the anniversary of the deaths of 13 U.S. soldiers in an Islamic State bombing during America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Trump has long pitched himself as a champion of the military, despite his record of disparaging service members. According to the Washington Post, Pentagon officials worried he’d turn the visit to Arlington — where, like all military cemeteries, election campaign activities are forbidden — into a publicity stunt.
The Pentagon sets out ground rules for Trump’s visit
In an effort to prevent this, those officials set out some ground rules. Unfortunately, what ensued was a confused, chaotic visit, during which a cemetery employee trying to enforce the rules was apparently quashed by Trump aides, who pushed past her with their cameras.
According to a Department of Defense source who spoke to the Washington Post, the female employee attempted to block Trump’s team from taking cameras to the graves of recently killed soldiers, per the conditions laid out by the Pentagon. NPR reports that his team verbally abused her, and a male Trump aide shoved past her.
Trump posed for a photo by the grave of Marine Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover, giving a thumbs-up. While Hoover’s mother had given her permission for the picture, the image also showed the graves of service members who were not honored during the event.
Trump’s team frames the cemetery employee as disrespectful
Trump’s team has framed the incident as disrespectful on the part of the employee. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told NPR that there was no physical confrontation, adding that the team is “prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.” (Per NPR, the team then refused to make the footage immediately available)
Cheung added that the cemetery employee was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode” — a claim for which he has no evidence.
According to The New York Times, the employee in question declined to file charges over the incident, due to a fear of reprisal from Trump’s supporters.
The Trump campaign posts a TikTok video of the event
The Trump campaign then posted a TikTok video of the cemetery event on Wednesday. The footage included shots of Section 60, where service members killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are buried. Though the families of some of the soldiers gave their permission to have cameras there, the cemetery insists that filming there is illegal.
“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,” it said in a statement. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
A sharp rebuke
Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told NPR that he’d “never in my life seen a politician do a smiling thumbs-up in front of the grave of a fallen Marine.”
“It’s disrespectful. It’s not Disney World, it’s Arlington National Cemetery, and it should be respected as such,” he continued, adding that Trump’s PR battle is now not with the Harris campaign or liberal media, but with the “hallowed” Arlington National Cemetery.
Family members of Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano, one of the soldiers whose graves were included in the photos posted online without permission, issued a statement after being contacted by the New York 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,” Marckesano’s sister, Michele, said.
“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.”
“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.”
Did Trump and his team break the law?
That’s up for debate. The law that might apply is 32 CFR § 553.32, which concerns the conduct of memorial services and ceremonies.
It says: “All memorial services and ceremonies within Army National Military Cemeteries, other than official ceremonies, shall be purely memorial in purpose.”
“Memorial services and ceremonies at Army National Military Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities,” it adds.
The question, therefore, is whether Trump’s actions — and those of his team — constitute partisan political activities. While they have strenuously denied this, the cemetery and other experts appear to disagree.
