Trump releases video of his visit to Arlington National Cemetery after alleged altercation

Donald Trump posted a campaign video on TikTok showing himself visiting Arlington National Cemetery, two days after a physical altercation broke out between his staff and advisers at the cemetery over taking photos and videos at the cemetery.

The video shows Trump visiting graves, posing for photos with Gold Star families and participating in a wreath-laying ceremony in what is believed to be Section 60 of the cemetery – an area reserved for recently buried soldiers. The visit came on the third anniversary of an attack on American troops during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump makes a clear political statement in the video. He is recorded boasting that his administration has “not lost a single person in 18 months” in Afghanistan, but that the troop withdrawal was a “disaster” that left 13 soldiers dead under Joe Biden's administration. The caption of the video reads: “This should never have happened.”

Details of Monday’s alleged altercation were first reported by NPR, which cited a source saying that two Trump campaign staffers “swore names and shoved, [cemetery] officer aside” after cemetery staff informed the campaign that under Section 60, only cemetery officials are allowed to take photos or videos.

Arlington National Cemetery later confirmed that an “incident” had occurred and a report had been filed.

“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election activities at Army National Cemetery military cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or others who are there for the purposes of or in direct support of the campaign of a partisan political candidate,” said a statement from the cemetery, which is managed by the U.S. Army. “Arlington National Cemetery has affirmed this law and its prohibitions and has widely shared them with all participants.”

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told NPR: “There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”

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

Trump has not yet made any statement on the controversy.

The family of the late Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano, a Green Beret who committed suicide after multiple combat missions and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, also commented on Trump's cemetery visit on Wednesday, saying they were upset that he was filming near his grave.

“According to our conversation with Arlington National Cemetery, Trump campaign staff did not follow the rules established for this visit to Staff Sergeant Hoover's gravesite in Section 60, which is right next to my brother's grave,” Marckesano's sister Michele told the New York Times.

“We hope that visitors to this sacred site understand that these were real people who sacrificed for our freedom and that they will be honored and respected accordingly,” she added.