Trump reportedly “respectfully” honored fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery

A U.S. veteran and former member of the President's Honor Guard defended former President Donald Trump's appearance at Arlington National Cemetery this week amid reports of an altercation between Arlington Cemetery employees and the Trump campaign team.

Veteran Lucas O'Hara, who worked at Arlington for three years during his military service, said on social media that he praised Trump's composure at the event. Meanwhile, Trump's campaign team is facing criticism following reports that cemetery staff warned them not to take photos at Monday's event.

“I have witnessed over 75 wreath-layings by politicians and conducted 524 burials at this cemetery during my three years as a member of the Presidential Honor Guard. What I witnessed yesterday was the most respectful and solemn ceremony I have ever seen,” O'Hara wrote.

“There were no speeches, no angles, no weird photo ops, just our elected officials and the 45th President respectfully and solemnly paying their last respects to the fallen and their families,” he added.

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Monday's event commemorated the 13 U.S. soldiers killed defending Kabul airport during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Several of the soldiers' parents released a statement saying they had allowed a Trump campaign photographer to film the event.

An NPR report said two Trump campaign staffers “cursed and shoved” a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and taking photos. A defense official also told the Associated Press that the campaign was warned by cemetery officials not to take photos at the event.

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“Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related 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 a partisan political candidate's campaign,” a cemetery official said in a statement. “Arlington National Cemetery has emphasized this law and its prohibitions and widely communicated it to all attendees. We can confirm there was an incident and a report was filed.”

An altercation broke out between members of former President Donald Trump’s campaign team and staff at Arlington National Cemetery. (Getty Images)

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung argued that the staffer who blocked the campaign photographers appeared to have had a “mental seizure.” He also stated that the campaign team had been given permission to bring a photographer.

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

Former President Donald Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 U.S. soldiers during the Afghanistan withdrawal. (POOL)

Trump attended the event at the invitation of family members of the soldiers killed in the bombing in Kabul.

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“We are deeply grateful to the President for taking the time to honor our children and for standing with us in our grief and offering us his unwavering support during this difficult time,” five of the family members wrote after the event. “His compassion and respect meant more than words can express.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.