Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday denied reports surrounding an alleged confrontation at Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump’s team dismissed the story first published by National Public Radio (NPR) that said Trump campaign staff verbally abused and pushed aside a cemetery official who objected to filming at the military cemetery. The 45th president was visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to mark three years since the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 American service members during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communications director, issued a response to the story first reported by NPR. The media outlet, citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the incident, said in its report that Arlington officials made it clear that only staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area of the cemetery known as Section 60.
Cheung pushed back on claims that they were not given approval to film at the site.
“We were granted access to have a photographer there,” Cheung stated in a post on X.
In the same statement, Cheung also posted a screenshot of what appeared to be proof of that approval: “Only former President Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool.”
Cheung had previously said in a statement when the story first emerged that “there was no physical altercation” as described by NPR and claimed someone “decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team.”
He also said that Trump’s team is prepared to release footage if defamatory claims continue to be made. Trump’s campaign has since posted a video on Trump’s official TikTok account that captured moments from his visit.
Families of the fallen service members confirmed in their own statement that they approved of filming at the event, also thanking Trump for attending the wreath-laying ceremony to mark three years since the Abbey Gate bombing.
“We had given our approval for President Trump’s official videographer and photographer to attend the event, ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured and so we can cherish these memories forever.”
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed in a statement that an incident had occurred and that a report was filed.
“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,” according to the cemetery.
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