A day after former President Donald Trump honored 13 fallen American service members at Arlington National Cemetery, NPR is claiming Trump campaign staff got into an “altercation” with a cemetery official who prevented them from taking photographs in an off-limits section.
The outlet published an article claiming a source told the outlet that “two members” of Trump’s campaign staff had a “verbal and physical altercation” with a cemetery official who allegedly attempted to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60 of the cemetery and filming and photographing in the section.
Officials at the cemetery reportedly “made clear that only cemetery staff members are authorized to take photographs or film” in Section 60, the source told the outlet.
In response to the allegations, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung explained that a “private photographer was permitted on the premises,” and added that an “unnamed individual” had “decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team” during the ceremony at the cemetery.
“There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” Cheung said in a statement. “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.”
We were granted access to have a photographer there. https://t.co/s2E9lNdksK pic.twitter.com/dXbZ03hwzB
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) August 27, 2024
In a post on X, Cheung shared a photo that stated that “only” Trump was allowed to “have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool.”
Senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita also issued a statement criticizing “a despicable individual” for physically preventing Trump campaign staff “from accompanying” the former president to the ceremony.
“President Trump was there on the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” LaCivita said in a statement. “For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Whoever this individual is spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country.”
Juels added that it “was monumental.”
“I can speak for myself and our family, and we absolutely welcomed and appreciated having video and photography there with us during the time we spent with President Trump,” Juels said in a statement. “For us this was monumental, and having it recorded, we felt was important. When has a president and so many veteran members of Congress ever come to pay their respects like this EVER before? This is a hard day for us, and we have been ignored by the current administration for 3 YEARS now, so to have President Trump, take the time, to come and honor our kids at Arlington and lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with us, as well as Tyler Vargas Andrews and Kelsee Lainhart, the 2 most gravely injured Marines, to remember and honor the Abbey Gate 13, and those WIA that day, was truly an unprecedented show of presidential respect, gratitude and honor! He almost just lost his own life in service to this country! But it didn’t end there, he also took the time to come to section 60 and spent more time, laying flowers at their gravesites talking to us and asking to hear all our stories about Nicole’s life and actually listened to us, & left us all feeling validated and like someone cared!”
Juels added that they “wanted” and were “glad to have had it all recorded” for their family and the world, and praised Trump for showing what an “honorable President looks like.”