Trump Returning To Arlington Cemetery To Meet With Gold Star Families Ahead Of Inauguration

President-elect Donald Trump is returning to Arlington National Cemetery the Sunday ahead of his inauguration to meet with the Gold Star families of the 13 soldiers killed in the Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal, a Trump spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller.

Trump and the Gold Star families will participate in a wreath laying ceremony Sunday, Jan. 19, before they attend his pre-inauguration party later in the day, the Washington Reporter first reported.

The outlet reported that Trump will be accompanied by incoming first lady Melania Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and incoming second lady Usha Vance. The president-elect also invited the Gold Star families to his inauguration, a Trump spokesperson confirmed to the Caller.

To honor the 13 soldiers killed in the Afghanistan withdrawal on the anniversary of their death, Trump visited the cemetery with the families in August. The event came under fire after NPR reported that there was a physical altercation between a campaign official and an Arlington National Cemetery staffer over photograph restrictions in Section 60, where fallen soldiers of recent American wars lay. Amid the backlash, the Trump team denied the story while a source familiar with the event conversations told the Caller that the families were okay with a campaign photographer taking photos of the ceremony.

Neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a public event on Aug. 26, 2024, to honor the 13 fallen soldiers killed during their administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal, issuing statements instead to mark the anniversary.

Before Trump and the families visited Arlington National Cemetery in August, a Gold Star family told the Caller that the cemetery was trying to put restrictions on the event to block the now president-elect from attending despite it being the families’ request. Because the situation escalated House Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to intervene to help Trump attend the ceremony, a Gold Star family told the Caller. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Gold Star Families Had Trouble Getting Trump Into Arlington Until House Speaker Intervened)

Harris decided to weigh in on the situation in a tweet, slamming Trump for filming videos while honoring the fallen soldiers. She added that unlike Trump she “will always honor the service and sacrifice of all of America’s fallen heroes.”

As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times. It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation.

It is not a place for politics.

And…

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 31, 2024

Eight Gold Star families released videos in response to Harris’ tweet, calling out the vice president for never reaching out to the families in the three years since their children were killed in her administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal.

“You have 13 families who have been waiting over three years to so much as get a phone call, to so much as hear our kids names said aloud in the halls of Congress, the State of the Union, hell, anything. The irony behind your post, that you give a rat’s ass about our military or our veterans, Jared’s brothers and sisters in arms, the rest of the 12, their brothers and sisters in arms, is an outright lie,” Mark Schmitz, gold star father of Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, said in a video posted to Twitter. “We’re living proof of that. You’re despicable. You have zero business running this country. And I pray to God Americans wake the hell up, and get your ass out of office. You have spit in our face for the last fucking time.”

Mark Schmitz, Father of Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz… https://t.co/CHNRzcTa0J pic.twitter.com/pRLF9tS7Jn

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2024

“Never.”

Abbey Gate survivor Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews Says Kamala Harris has never reached out to him.

Was Biden and Harris tweeting the fallen’s names enough?

“It never will be … Joe Biden was on the beach during that time. I was standing over my friends’ graves.” pic.twitter.com/6UROj9st7E

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 19, 2024

Marine Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who was severely wounded in the Afghanistan withdrawal, was in attendance at Trump’s Arlington visit in August. He stood next to the former president in the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier and visited Section 60 with Trump and the families. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Blood Is On Their Hands’: Abbey Gate Survivor Describes Coming Face To Face With Joe Biden)

Vargas-Andrews sat down with the Caller for nearly an hour after the visit, explaining that he did not see any altercation and that the families wanted Trump at the event.

“It’s a joke that Kamala Harris is going to go on and say anything they can to shut down these families,” Vargas-Andrews told the Caller of the vice president’s tweet.

“That’s what it is at the end of the day, when you’re doing that, you’re shutting down these families, you’re shutting down the 13 Americans that were murdered on your watch, the 13 Americans that were murdered under the Biden administration, all of the active duty troops that are still in combat zones all over the world that she said aren’t,” he added.