Key Points
- The US Army has defended a cemetery employee who was “pushed aside” by a Donald Trump staffer during a visit.
- The incident happened when Donald Trump staffers took videos in a section where political activities are not allowed.
- The Army said it was “unfortunate” that the employee and her professionalism had been attacked.
The United States Army has defended an employee at a cemetery in Arlington, Virginia who was pushed aside by members of Donald Trump’s staff when the former US president visited the country’s most revered resting place for its dead troops.
The military — which maintains the Arlington National Cemetery — rarely comments on political matters.
While its statement on Thursday did not explicitly mention Trump or his 2024 presidential campaign, it referenced a Monday ceremony.
On that day Trump, the Republican candidate in the United States’ 5 November presidential election, visited the cemetery and took part in a wreath-laying ceremony honouring the 13 service members killed during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
His campaign posted photos from the visit, including one showing him giving a thumbs-up gesture while standing with relatives at the grave of one of the Marines killed.
He also visited Section 60 of the cemetery, where troops are buried and which is considered hallowed ground in the military.
Federal law and Pentagon policies do not allow political activities in that section of the cemetery, but Trump campaign staffers took videos there and used them in advertisements.
“An ANC (Arlington National Cemetery) employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army statement said.
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” it added.
During a speech in Michigan on Thursday, Trump said families of service members who died in Afghanistan had asked him to go to Arlington National Cemetery and take photographs with them.
Donald Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to participate in a ceremony to mark three years since a 2021 suicide bombing at an airport in Afghanistan that killed 13 American service members. Source: Getty / Anna Moneymaker
“They love me and I love them,” Trump said.
Going on the offensive, Trump’s campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita has described the employee as a “despicable individual”.
Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said she was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode” and “decided to physically block members of” Trump’s team.
Trump used the third anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan to try to pin the chaotic pullout on his Democratic rival for the White House, Kamala Harris.
The US military is meant to be apolitical, loyal to the US Constitution and independent of any party or political movement.
The Arlington cemetery incident has revived fears among some officials and experts that Trump could use the military for political purposes if he wins a second term.
While in office, Trump intervened and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL convicted of posing with the corpse of an Islamic State detainee and threatened to use US troops to put down protests across the US.
Since leaving office Trump has berated some military officials.
“We really did not want to get involved in this,” said a US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“But what happened (at Arlington) is not acceptable.”
The Army has said that it considers the matter closed since the employee did not press charges.
