Former U.S. President Donald Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, August 26, to commemorate the third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Current President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also issued statements honoring the fallen service members.
On August 26, 2021, a terrorist attack outside Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, resulted in over 170 casualties, including 13 U.S. military personnel—11 Marines, one Navy corpsman, and one soldier.
Accompanied by some families of the fallen, Trump solemnly laid a wreath, paused briefly amid the sound of taps, then returned to retrieve another wreath to lay down again. This process was repeated three times.
In the weeks leading up to the anniversary, Trump and his presidential campaign team have been closely monitoring the event, viewing it as an illustration of what he has called the “incompetence” of the federal government.
During the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump did not make any formal statements or comments.
Later that afternoon, his campaign team held a press conference with several military families, Vice Presidential candidate and Marine Corps veteran JD Vance, and prominent Republican leaders from Congress, including Representatives Ryan Zinke of Montana, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, and former Navy SEAL member who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Biden and Harris separately issued statements urging the nation to “mourn and remember” the 13 service members who sacrificed their lives to rescue others. Both individuals mentioned each service member by name.
Biden stated, “These 13 Americans, as well as many more who were injured, are patriots in the truest sense. Some were born the year the war in Afghanistan began, some were on their second or third tour, but all raised their hands to serve a cause greater than themselves, risking their lives for the safety of their American compatriots, allies, and Afghan partners.”
In his statement, Biden mentioned carrying a card listing the names of “exact numbers of Americans killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, including Taylor, Johanny, Nicole, Hunter, Daegan, Humberto, David, Jared, Rylee, Dylan, Kareem, Maxton, and Ryan.”
He added, “We also pay tribute to their comrades, who served in our longest war for our freedom and future, making sacrifices, with 20,744 American service members wounded; 2,461 ultimately gave their lives.”
Harris defended the government’s actions, stating that Biden “made a courageous and right decision, ending America’s longest war.”
She said, “Over the past three years, our government has demonstrated that we can still eliminate terrorists without deploying troops to the war zone, including leaders of al-Qaeda and ISIS. I will not hesitate to take all necessary actions to combat the terrorism threat and protect the American people and homeland.”
Over the past two years, Congressional Republicans have criticized Biden for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan less than eight months into his administration, placing blame on the Biden administration.
Democrats and the Biden administration countered, stating that the roots of this disaster lay in the Doha Agreement reached by the Trump administration with the Taliban in February 2020, agreeing to reduce and fully withdraw U.S. troops by May 2021. They argued that the swift departure exacerbated the rapid deterioration of the Afghan government and turned a planned, orderly evacuation into a major collapse.
According to an 85-page analysis report released by the U.S. State Department in June 2023, decision-makers from both administrations made erroneous decisions.
The report noted, “The decisions by Presidents Trump and Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the survival capability and security of the Afghan government.” This was identified as the first of 28 mistakes made by government officials, intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, and State Department personnel, as outlined in the report.