President Donald Trump is set to deliver remarks at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. to commemorate Veterans Day, according to the Washington Examiner. Before the speech, the president and first lady Melania Trump will participate in the 2026 National Veterans Day Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Vice President JD Vance and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins are also scheduled to speak at the observance, C-SPAN reported, and are joined by veterans from around the country. The Washington Examiner's live feed and an Instagram reel posted Wednesday show the president arriving at the cemetery and participating in the wreath-laying ceremony.
The ceremony comes as U.S. troops remain engaged in the Iran conflict. According to Pentagon figures cited by Newsweek, 23 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 860 wounded in operations connected to the war. Newsweek reported that some veterans have criticized the president's handling of the conflict, and that Trump's 2025 comment that November 11 would also be recognized as "Victory Day for World War I" has drawn anger from some in the veterans community. The holiday has not been officially renamed.
Adam Dunigan, a Marine Corps combat veteran who served in Afghanistan and later worked as a CIA operations officer, told Newsweek that Trump's effort to put his personal stamp on military traditions was distracting from what he called "the disaster he made in Iran." Dunigan, who ran in a Democratic congressional primary in Virginia earlier this year, said: "Trump can try and put his tacky, jingoistic branding on whatever he likes. He's got two more years. But the renamings, the Trump Arch (and) the gold-plated everything, it's all an amateurish distraction from his failures here at home and the disaster he made in Iran."
The New York Times reported that an expanding legal fight over the proposed site of a 250-foot triumphal arch championed by the president looms over his visit to Arlington. The arch proposal has drawn opposition and litigation, according to the Times, though the specific status of the legal challenge was not detailed in the reporting.
Wednesday's events follow the traditional format for the federal holiday: a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, remarks from the commander in chief, and a ceremony honoring veterans of the armed forces. The White House has not released the full text of the president's remarks.
The Washington Examiner's X account posted a live stream link Wednesday morning: "WATCH LIVE: Trump delivers Veterans Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery." The Instagram post from the official White House account showed the president and first lady at the cemetery.
For veterans and their families, the day centers on the cemetery's rows of headstones and the service members buried there. Whether the president addresses the Iran conflict directly in his remarks, and how he frames the holiday amid the ongoing litigation over the arch, will be closely watched by veterans groups and military families.
Our Take
Veterans Day at Arlington is supposed to be about the men and women in those graves, not about the political fights swirling around the president. But the legacy media can't help themselves. The New York Times leads its coverage with a legal fight over an arch. Newsweek digs up a Democratic primary candidate to trash the commander in chief on a day set aside for honor. Notice the pattern: anything Trump does to recognize service members gets reframed as a controversy.
Here's what the press won't emphasize: this president has consistently put veterans and the military first — from VA reform to holding the Pentagon accountable to ending the woke policies that demoralized the ranks. The wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a solemn tradition, and the president's presence there matters to the families who have sacrificed everything.
Patriots, watch the live feed. Judge the ceremony for yourself, not through the filter of reporters who decided the story before the president even stepped to the podium. And ask yourself: why does the media always find a critic on the one day we're supposed to be united in gratitude?
