Trump campaign claims Arlington National Cemetery staff tried to block tribute to troops killed in Afghanistan withdrawal

Steven Cheung, spokesman for Donald Trump's campaign, denied a report by National Public Radio (NPR) that two members of the Republican presidential candidate's team had a verbal and physical altercation with an official at Arlington National Cemetery, where Trump recently paid a visit to pay tribute to the 13 U.S. military personnel killed in the bombing at the Kabul airport's Abbey Gate during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, after which the Taliban took over power in the country.

During the ceremony, Trump was accompanied by relatives of the victims of the bombing, which also killed around 170 Afghans, and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Cheung stated that no physical altercation took place as described by NPR. He also warned, "We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made."

"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 spokesman added.

Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of The Federalist, took aim on X against the U.S. government in the wake of what happened at the cemetery. "Families of the men and women killed at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan due to the incompetence of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden invited Donald Trump to join them in honoring their loved ones on the anniversary of their deaths, and Biden-Harris responded by trying to ban Trump from Arlington Cemetery."

The NPR report, which was echoed by some media outlets, noted that members of Trump's team insulted and shoved a cemetery official who had tried to stop them from photographing and filming a section where the service members are buried.

Arlington National Cemetery confirmed that an incident occurred at the site and filed a report on the matter. "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.

However, Newsmax maintained that the cemetery did not respond to requests for a copy of the report or an explanation of why Trump's team was allowed to visit the cemetery as part of his campaign.