Exclusive: Donald Trump bringing Abbey Gate Gold Star families to his Inauguration

President Donald Trump is hosting a wreath-laying ceremony for the Gold Star families who lost their loved ones during the Afghanistan withdrawal, and will host them at his rally and Inauguration.

After privately meeting with the Gold Star families whose loved ones died during President Joe Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, and inviting them to speak at the Republican National Convention (RNC) last year, President-elect Donald Trump has offered the families VIP treatment at his upcoming inauguration.

Families in the Abbey Gate Coalition plan to attend Trump’s second inauguration as VIPs, a source familiar with the planning told the Washington Reporter. Trump will host several of the families at Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony on January 19 before Trump’s final rally at Capital One Arena, where the Gold Star families have VIP seats, as well. Plans for the ceremony have not previously been reported.

During the ceremony, Trump and the families will visit Section 60 of the cemetery, which is largely reserved for those who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They will be joined by incoming First Lady Melania Trump, incoming Vice President JD Vance, and incoming Second Lady Usha Vance.

Gold Star families who will be in attendance are excited, several told the Reporter. In the years since the withdrawal, Trump has been an unwavering champion for the Gold Star families in their fight for government accountability.

“Trump was way more than I expected,” Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Sergeant Nicole Gee, told The Spectator after he hosted her and others for hours at his Bedminster resort. “The contrast is stark with the president we met at Dover.” Trump “knew so much about the event, the kids, Bagram and who made decisions…He was a normal human and made eye contact, answered every question, even the uncomfortable ones.”

Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who bragged about being the last person in the room with Biden when he strategized about the failed withdrawal, have ignored multiple meeting requests from the Gold Star families. Steve Nikoui, the father of Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, interrupted Biden’s final State of the Union address to scream his son’s name in the halls of Congress.

Nikoui was arrested for disrupting the speech, but the charges were ultimately dropped, following pressure from lawmakers led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), an advocate for the Gold Star families in Congress.

“I’m looking forward to him firing all of the people who had anything to do with this botched Afghanistan withdrawal and holding those in power accountable,” Nikoui told the Reporter. “This inauguration is a victory and confirmation that no other families will meet the same fate as ours.”

Following extensive outreach by Trump and his orbit, several members of the Abbey Gate Coalition joined Trump on campaign stops across the country. Trump has pledged that everyone who “touched” Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal will be fired on his first day in office.

“When I take office we will ask for the resignations of every single official,” he said on the third anniversary of the deadly suicide attack at Abbey Gate, which left 13 U.S. service members dead. “We’ll get the resignations of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan calamity, to be on my desk at noon on Inauguration Day.”