Trump ‘incident’ at Arlington National Cemetery during visit: Spokesperson confirms incident with Section 60 staffer

A photography-related “incident” occurred at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday during a visit by former President Donald Trump, prompting a report, the cemetery said in a statement to ABC News.

The video is from a previous report.

While the cemetery did not immediately provide details, NPR reported that a source told the publication that two Trump campaign officials got into a verbal and physical altercation with a cemetery staffer during Trump’s visit, which came on the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 service members during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

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

Contacted by ABC News Tuesday evening, a representative from Arlington National Cemetery issued a statement confirming an “incident” but did not provide details.

“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities at military national cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or any other person participating for the purpose of or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign. Arlington National Cemetery has reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm that an incident occurred and a report was filed,” the statement read.

Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung posted on X what he said was evidence of the team’s approval to have an official photographer and videographer outside the main press pool.

“Only former President Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the primary media pool,” reads a screenshot of what appears to be an access directive posted by Cheung. It’s worth noting, however, that campaign officials — not professionals — were also taking photos and videos of the day’s events.

Cheung also said Tuesday night after the news broke that “there was no physical altercation as described, and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory allegations are made” in a statement to ABC News.

Trump campaign members have posted several photos and videos of Trump visiting Arlington Cemetery, including from what appears to be Section 60, taking the opportunity to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris for not being there. Trump was at the cemetery on the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack as troops were being withdrawn from Afghanistan to pay tribute to the 13 U.S. service members killed in the incident.

In a video posted by Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, Trump can be seen laying flowers at the grave of Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, who died in the attack. LaCivita wrote in the post that Trump was speaking on the phone with Knauss’ family, who were unable to attend the ceremony Monday.

Several other members of the Trump campaign posted photos of the location, and some of those images were later shared by the Trump campaign on its official X account.

Prior to the event, the cemetery had explicitly stated that no Trump activities could be filmed during his visit to Section 60.

The press pool note on Monday read: “The family visit to Section 60 after the wreath laying is private and at their explicit request, there will be NO coverage at this location. Your POOL will wait inside the press van during this visit. POOL will then be taken to an undisclosed location for an OTR stop to end the morning.”

On Tuesday, after 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 Gold Star families of Abbey Gate to honor their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” calling the individual who tried to block Trump campaign officials “despicable.”