Trump campaign involved in incident on grounds of Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery said an "incident" took place on Monday when former President Donald Trump visited the cemetery with Gold Star families whose family members died during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Officials at the cemetery confirmed in a statement that there was an "incident" and a report was subsequently filed after Trump, along with members of his campaign, visited the cemetery.
Trump participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark three years since the suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 13 service members during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He also visited Section 60, where veterans of the post-9/11 conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are laid to rest.
The Trump campaign said that they were explicitly granted permission to bring "campaign designated media" to Section 60 of the cemetery by the Gold Star families. Messages reviewed by CBS News confirmed that the campaign was given expressed permission by the families.
The rules at Army National Military Cemeteries are dictated by federal law, according to Arlington National Cemetery media policies, even if there are requests by family members of the fallen.
It was at Section 60 that an interaction took place between Trump campaign staffers and a cemetery official, according to multiple sources.
The cemetery said in a statement that "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 it "reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants."
In a statement, the Army called the incident "unfortunate" and said it was "also unfortunate" that the Arlington employee and her "professionalism has been unfairly attacked."
"Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds," the Army statement said.
An Arlington Cemetery employee "who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside," the Army said. "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 this matter closed."
NPR reported that two members of the Trump campaign had a verbal and physical altercation with an official at the cemetery.
Defense officials told CBS News that some staff with the Trump campaign were unprofessional and were aggressive both verbally and physically toward the cemetery official.
"There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made," Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CBS News. "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."
The campaign also sent CBS News a statement from Cheryl Juels, the aunt of Nicole Gee, one of the Marines killed by the ISIS-K suicide attacker, thanking Trump for his appearance. "We absolutely welcomed and appreciated having video and photography there with us," the statement read in part.
When asked by CBS News to clarify whether the incident was a physical altercation, Arlington National Cemetery said it is not releasing more information to protect the identity of the individual involved.
Trump has in the past been criticized for demeaning service in the military, including disparaging comments calling service members who have been captured or killed "suckers and losers." The Trump campaign has denied he ever made those comments, but current and former U.S. military service members have detailed multiple instances of Trump using that language.
This week the campaign has held events reaching out to members of the military and their families with the visit to Arlington National Cemetery and a speech speaking directly to service members at the National Guard Association of the United States conference in Detroit on Monday.