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Trump’s appalling desecration of Arlington National Cemetery shows he still can’t be trusted

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Trump’s appalling desecration of Arlington National Cemetery shows he still can’t be trusted


Are Donald Trump and JD Vance really the leaders we want representing our nation’s military? I don’t.

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has continued his divisive antics this week by desecrating a sacred moment of remembrance for the American troops killed in a suicide bombing three years ago in Afghanistan.

In a time that should have been used to comfort and unify the nation, Trump instead saw another opportunity to promote himself. Even worse, Trump’s staff reportedly got into a physical altercation on Monday with an Arlington National Cemetery employee after they were told not to record video inside the cemetery.

Federal laws and U.S. Army regulations prohibit political activities on the cemetery grounds. Trump and his campaign staff blatantly ignored those restrictions, and then attacked the cemetery employee who tried to uphold the law, even describing her as a “despicable individual.”

Army rebukes Trump campaign over Arlington visit, Vance says Harris ‘can go to hell’

“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the Army said in a statement released Thursday. “ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”

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Making Trump’s very bad week even worse, the former president’s running mate, JD Vance, falsely accused Democratic nominee Kamala Harris of politicizing the cemetery visit − and then cursed her.

“And she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up? She can − she can go to hell,” Vance said.

Are Trump and Vance really the leaders we want representing our nation’s military? I don’t. 

Vance attacks Walz’s military service: Vance accused Walz of ‘stolen valor.’ He should thank him for his service instead.

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On the same day that Trump participated in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, he posted on Truth Social that, “Three years ago, Kamala’s and Biden’s incompetence left 13 dead warriors, hundreds of civilians killed and grievously wounded, and $85 billion worth of the finest military equipment on the planet abandoned to the Taliban.” (In reality, the Taliban captured an estimated $7 billion worth of weapons and other military equipment).

But are President Joe Biden and Harris really to blame for the chaotic withdrawal?

Blaming the current administration ignores the decisions that Trump also made leading up to the withdrawal. Under Trump’s leadership, negotiations for the withdrawal led to an agreement with the Taliban that influenced the eventual outcome. By refusing to acknowledge his role in the preparations for the withdrawal, Trump is attempting to shift blame and mislead Americans. 

Plans by the White House, military leaders, intelligence agencies and international partners for the Afghanistan withdrawal were multifaceted and performed with great scrutiny and caution. 

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I interviewed Stephen Bender, a former Marine officer, who worked as a private security officer during the evacuation. His role was to coordinate with the U.S. government to ensure the safe processing of Afghan evacuees and U.S. personnel. He recalled the Taliban’s swift takeover.

“It felt like we were in denial about the withdrawal,” Bender said. “One day, they [the Taliban] were just 20 kilometers away, and it felt as though nothing had changed. Suddenly, they were within the city, only 400 meters from our front gate.”

US ‘abandoned’ people of Afghanistan

Bender said that both Biden and Trump need to acknowledge the mistakes they and others in their administrations made in planning for and executing the exit of American forces from Afghanistan.

“The people of Afghanistan were abandoned by our country,” Bender said. “While it may not affect the average American’s daily life, I witnessed firsthand the failures of our politics. Fathers who wanted a better life for their families, seeking safety for their children, faced the worst possible outcome due to our leaders’ refusal to accept responsibility and their tendency to blame others.”

Veterans for Harris: Is the military woke? Democrats make political gains among America’s warriors.

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Leadership requires more than assigning blame; it demands the courage to face uncomfortable truths, the ability to bring people together in times of crisis and the humility to honor those who have served without exploiting their memory.

When Trump asserts blame for the withdrawal, perhaps we should ask: Can a leader who refuses to take responsibility for his own actions, and who consistently uses moments of national significance for self-promotion, truly be trusted to lead a nation?

Marla Bautista is a military fellow columnist at USA TODAY Opinion.

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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