Trump releases campaign video of his visit to Arlington National Cemetery after “incident”

(WASHINGTON) – The Trump campaign released a TikTok video of the former president's controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. In a statement to ABC News, cemetery officials said there was an “incident” related to the photography that led to the filing of a complaint.

While the cemetery did not provide immediate details, NPR reported that a source told the publication that a verbal and physical altercation occurred with a cemetery worker during Trump's visit, which came on the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 soldiers during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The alleged altercation occurred after Trump campaign staff were asked not to take photos and videos in Section 60, a part of the cemetery where recent U.S. veterans are buried, NPR reported.

When ABC News contacted a representative at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday evening, the representative issued a statement confirming an “incident” but did not provide details.

“Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activities at Army National Cemetery military cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or others present there for the purposes of or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign. Arlington National Cemetery has affirmed this law and its prohibitions and has communicated them widely to all attendees. We can confirm that there was an incident and a report was filed,” the statement said.

The video released by Trump's campaign on Tuesday shows his visit to Section 60, where the alleged altercation occurred, and shows what critics say was a violation of cemetery rules.

The TikTok video, accompanied by guitar instruments, shows a montage of Trump attending the wreath-laying ceremony, taking photos with Gold Star families and visiting Section 60.

In the video, Trump can be heard making a political point throughout the video – blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. The video is also subtitled “This should never have happened,” which again condemns his political opponent's past actions.

In the TikTok video, Trump and some of his family members are seen smiling and giving a thumbs-up as they pose for photos. Captions over the video claim that Trump has not lost a single soldier in 18 months, but that a “disaster” has occurred since the Biden-Harris administration took power.

Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, posted on X that he said was evidence that the team had agreed to station an official photographer and videographer outside the main press pool.

“Only former President Trump is permitted to have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool,” reads a screenshot of an access policy posted by Cheung. It should be noted, however, that campaign staffers – not professionals – also took photos and video of the day's events.

Cheung also claimed in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday evening after the news broke: “There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory allegations are made.”

Trump campaign staff released several images and videos of Trump's visit to Arlington Cemetery, including what appeared to be Section 60, and used the moment to criticize the absence of Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump was at the cemetery on the third anniversary of the attack on Abbey Gate during the withdrawal from Afghanistan to commemorate the 13 U.S. soldiers killed in the incident.

In a video posted by Chris LaCivita, senior adviser to Trump's campaign, Trump can be seen laying flowers on the grave of Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, who was killed in the attack. LaCivita wrote in the post that Trump spoke by phone with Knauss' family, who were unable to make it to the ceremony on Monday.

ABC News spoke with Paula Knauss Selph, the mother of Staff Sgt. Knauss, who said she was grateful to Trump for visiting her son's grave and for giving her “permission as a family member” to take a photo there – a violation of cemetery regulations. She called the photo-permission controversy a “trivial news tip” that “takes the blame away” from service members.

“I find it very sad when you tell me that people are not allowed to take photos or pay their respects at a national cemetery,” Selph told ABC News.

Numerous other Trump campaign staffers posted photos from there, and some of the images were then shared by the Trump campaign on its official X account.

Before the event, the cemetery had explicitly ordered that none of Trump's activities in Section 60 could be filmed during his visit.

Monday's press release states: “The family visitation in Section 60 following the wreath laying is private and at her express request there will be NO news coverage at this location. Her POOL will wait in the press van during this visit. POOL will then be taken to an undisclosed location where an OTR stop will be made to round out the morning.”

The progressive veterans group VoteVets claimed in a post on X that “Trump only cares about the fallen when he can exploit their sacrifice for his own benefit.”

Michael Tyler, Harris-Walz's communications director, told CNN on Wednesday that the “incident” involving former President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery was “quite sad” but “exactly what we expected from the former president.”

“He's also someone who has a history of arguing with and demeaning military personnel, those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Tyler said – a reference to reports that Trump called military personnel “suckers” and “losers” after canceling a visit to a cemetery for American soldiers outside Paris in 2018 because he didn't think it was important to honor them. Trump has denied making those comments.

On Tuesday, following NPR's report, Cheung said in a statement that “there was no physical altercation as described.” He also claimed that someone “decided to physically block members of President Trump's team.”

In a statement to ABC News, LaCivita, a Marine wounded in combat, stressed that Trump was there “at the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.” He called the man who tried to block Trump's campaign team “despicable.”

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