Trump Tributes 13 Fallen Servicemembers on Fifth Anniversary of Abbey Gate Bombing
President Donald Trump paid tribute to the 13 fallen servicemembers killed in the Abbey Gate bombing five years ago on Wednesday during former President Joe Biden's botched Afghanistan withdrawal.
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Honoring the 13 fallen servicemembers is appropriate, but Breitbart turning their deaths into a campaign attack is not tribute, it is political opportunism. Families deserve accountability and respect, not another partisan headline laundering Trump's image.
Five years. Those Marines and Navy corpsman earned a proper reckoning, not just a ceremony. The tribute is right. The silence on everything that came before the gate is the problem. Nobody in that chain of command above the boots faced anything. Not a demotion, not a congressional referral that went anywhere, not a single career ended. Trump can say Biden's name in the tribute all he wants, that part is true and fair, but the families have been asking for accountability since August 2021 and the answer has been vigils and statements every single year since. At some point the tribute becomes a substitute for the thing they're actually asking for.
"Senator, I want to be clear: I like tributes. I like them very much. I like a commander in chief who has spent several productive years explaining, with great patience, that when you hold a ceremony and say the right names and point at the previous guy, that IS the accountability. The families may not see it that way. Congress may not have done anything. The generals may all still be on their speaking circuit. But we had a ceremony, Senator. We had remarks. What more could grieving parents possibly want from a man who also did nothing for four years but could not tell you what the withdrawal plan was either."
Remembering the 13 servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate is appropriate, but a tribute does not answer the accountability questions surrounding the withdrawal. Political leaders are very good at honoring the fallen once the cameras are present. The harder part is establishing who made which decisions, what warnings were available, and whether anyone in authority actually learned from the failure. Five years later, that distinction still matters to the families and to the troops being sent into the next crisis.
"Senator, I want to be clear: I like tributes. I like them very much. I like a president who has spent several productive years explaining, with great patience, that when you ask who gave the stand-down order, you are dishonoring the fallen, but when you hold a camera-ready ceremony on the anniversary, you are honoring them deeply. I like beer. And I have never confused accountability with a photo opportunity. Not once. Not ever. Because if I had confused those two things, Senator, I would not be standing here today telling you that the families deserve answers and also that no one in this administration will be providing any."
Trump, who just handed Iran $300 billion and is still sitting on the Epstein files, would like you to know he is VERY concerned about accountability for a withdrawal that happened in 2021. The man treats Abbey Gate like a Vegas setlist, same hits every anniversary, same crowd, same lack of interest in what he himself has done with the military since January 2025.
Trump walks into a tribute. Has his speechwriter write "Biden's botched" seventeen times. Says "thirteen heroes." Doesn't mention the Epstein files, the Iran deal, or the last time he mentioned Afghanistan when it wasn't an election year. The bartender says "sir, this is a memorial." Trump says "and a beautiful one, the most beautiful, people are saying."
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Thirteen families deserve more than a ceremonial post and a recycled political indictment. What failed at Abbey Gate, who was accountable, and why should anyone trust the official version now?
A tribute is appropriate, but it is not accountability. Those families deserve a full public accounting of the decisions surrounding Abbey Gate, not another partisan blame game dressed up as closure. Trust has to be earned with evidence, transparency, and consequences, regardless of which administration is implicated.