USA Controversy surrounding Trump visit to national cemetery

A visit by former US President Donald Trump to the National Cemetery in Arlington has sparked a new controversy over his respect for veterans.

On Monday, Trump laid a wreath at the cemetery near the US capital Washington in memory of the US soldiers killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan three years ago. Some of the victims' family members were also present. It has now become known that there was an altercation between Trump's team and employees of the cemetery during the visit. Critics accused the Republican presidential candidate Trump of misusing his visit for campaign purposes. His campaign rejected this.

The US broadcasting organization NPR reported that during the visit, two Trump employees had insulted a cemetery employee and pushed him aside when he tried to prevent filming and photography on a certain part of the grounds.

When asked, the National Cemetery said: "We can confirm that there was an incident and that a report has been made." In order to protect the identity of the person involved, no further details would be given at this time. The cemetery emphasized that campaign-related activities are prohibited by law at the cemetery.

A Trump spokesperson wrote on Platform X that a photographer was allowed in. In a statement for NPR, the spokesperson went on to say that the cemetery employee was probably suffering from "a mental disorder" and had physically obstructed members of the Trump team.

Trump's campaign team also published a statement on X from relatives of soldiers killed in Afghanistan who thanked the Republican for his visit. They had agreed to the participation of a photographer and the behavior of Trump and his team had been characterized by the utmost respect.

Trump later published a video clip of the visit on social media, in which he once again criticized the withdrawal from Afghanistan under Democrat Joe Biden's administration as a disaster. A liberal veterans' organization close to the Democrats sharply criticized this and complained that Trump only cares about soldiers who have been killed if he can use this to his own advantage. There was also criticism from others.

Trump has often made disparaging comments about soldiers and veterans in the past. Just a few days ago, he joked during an appearance that the highest civilian award in the country was much better than the highest military award - because its recipients were "either in very bad shape because they've been hit by bullets so many times, or they're dead".