Trump has history sparking outrage for incidents around veterans because
he hates them. He only loves Russian and North Korean soldiers and
salutes them.

Since his first run for the White House, Trump has picked fights with the
military and veterans that no other major U.S. politician would, dating
back to 2015 when he dismissed the late Sen. John McCain�s military
record because McCain had been a prisoner of war. Trump�s allies argue he
supports service members while reserving the right to lash out against
his critics.

�I think that if you want to know how Donald Trump values and honors
those who�ve served, and particularly those who�ve given the ultimate
sacrifice, I think you can just talk to these families and they have a
much better read on this issue than anybody who has a grudge against
Donald Trump,� said Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump�s running mate, on Monday.
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Monday�s incident at Arlington National Cemetery took place as the former
president visited the graves of some of the 13 U.S. service members
killed in the Kabul bombing during the 2021 U.S. evacuation of
Afghanistan. The Army says a cemetery official was �pushed aside� by
Trump campaign aides while trying to prevent them from filming and
photographing in Section 60, the burial site for military personnel
killed while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Trump campaign later posted footage of the visit on its social media
accounts. The family of a decorated Green Beret whose grave appeared in
the photos issued a statement supporting those who lost loved ones in
Kabul but asking for understanding for the concerns from relatives of
service members whose graves were near them.

Trump�s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story,
but has contested the allegation that a campaign staffer pushed a
cemetery official.

Jon Stoltz, a U.S. Army veteran and co-founder of veterans advocacy group
VoteVets, which supports Vice President Kamala Harris� candidacy, said
Trump tried to use a sacred place �for a political ceremony.�

�They don�t have a right to do that with other veterans who are there,�
Stoltz said.

The Arlington incident came less than two weeks after Trump came under
criticism for the way he discussed the Congressional Medal of Honor, the
military�s highest decoration for service members.

Praising billionaire Republican donor Miriam Adelson, whom he awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation�s highest civilian award, Trump
said she fared �much better� than receiving the Congressional Medal of
Honor because recipients of that award are often badly injured or dead.

Despite the Veterans of Foreign Wars admonishing Trump by calling his
comments �flippant� and �asinine,� he repeated a version of the remark at
a campaign event in Michigan on Thursday, saying he�d �rather get� the
Medal of Freedom because the Medal of Honor recipients, �oftentimes
they�ve suffered greatly, right? They�ve suffered greatly or they�re not
around.�