A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A visit to Arlington National Cemetery by former President Trump turned unruly this week.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Trump attended a ceremony honoring 13 troops killed in Afghanistan in 2021. And although Trump campaign officials deny this, NPR's Quil Lawrence has learned that some staffers with the Trump campaign did not follow an agreement made with Arlington officials. Political activity is illegal at the cemetery, and what followed was an altercation between two Trump campaign staffers and an official at Arlington trying to enforce the rules.
MARTÍNEZ: Quil Lawrence is here now. Quil, tell us what happened. What did you find out?
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Yeah. Arlington Cemetery officials had made their rules clear in advance of the visit, specifically that only an official cemetery photographer would be allowed in Section 60. And that's where U.S. fallen from Iraq and Afghanistan are mostly buried. When Trump's motorcade arrived, along with some Gold Star family members whose loved ones are buried there, the campaign tried to bring a staffer to film and take photographs into Section 60, and an Arlington Cemetery official tried to prevent that, and she was verbally abused and pushed aside. At least one of those photos has been distributed showing the former president and the Gold Star family next to a tombstone in Section 60.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, OK. So what has the Trump campaign said about this?
LAWRENCE: Spokesman Steven Cheung sent us a statement saying, quote, "there was no physical altercation as described, and we're preparing 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 Trump campaign would not provide us with that video they say they have.
MARTÍNEZ: We heard from Arlington National Cemetery about this?
LAWRENCE: Yes. Last evening, an Arlington official provided this statement to NPR. 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. Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed. That's the end of their quote. But I should add the staff at Arlington see themselves as guarding some of the most hallowed ground in this country.
MARTÍNEZ: What's the background here? Why was Donald Trump even attending the ceremony?
LAWRENCE: So it was the third anniversary of a suicide bombing attack that killed 13 U.S. troops and more than a hundred Afghan civilians desperately trying to flee Kabul in the mess that was the American pullout in 2021. Former President Trump has been blaming President Biden and Vice President Harris for the decisions on Afghanistan. And Trump was invited to attend a wreath laying there. Many of the families of the troops killed that day have publicly blamed Biden for the chaotic withdrawal.
Trump has a controversial history with comments about disabled veterans, though, and about fallen soldiers. Some of his former staff have said Trump called fallen World War II troops losers and suckers for fighting and dying when they had no personal gain at stake. Trump denies these comments, but even this year, he mocked the late John McCain for not being able to raise his arms fully. You know McCain was permanently disabled from his time as a prisoner of the war in Vietnam. And just this month, he compared a Republican megadonor he'd given the Presidential Medal of Freedom to with recipients of the Medal of Honor, many of whom are buried there at Arlington.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Quil Lawrence. Quil, thank you for your reporting on this.
LAWRENCE: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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