FTA:

America's 17 million-strong veteran community is traditionally more likely to vote for Republican candidates but polls suggest their enthusiasm for Trump is waning.

The former president won a 61 per cent share of this vote in 2016 but only 54 per cent in 2020. In a Change Research survey released this week, support for Trump among veterans was down to statistical coin toss at 51 per cent.

The military vote is of outsized importance in the five key swing states. There are nearly 800,000 veterans in Pennsylvania, more than 550,000 in Michigan and 283,000 in Wisconsin. Arizona has more than 450,000 and Nevada more than 200,000.

"There's no question in my mind there's been a shift," said Fred Wellman, a US army combat veteran with VoteVets, a veterans' advocacy group and political action committee.

"The Arlington debacle was different," Wellman said. "Even my non card-carrying vet friends who water-ski on weekends rather than pay attention to politics were deeply offended. Arlington is sacred."

NPR is reporting the names of the two Trump campaign officials who harrassed the ANC employee:

Trump deputy campaign manager identified in Arlington National Cemetery dustup

One of two staffers involved in the altercation at Arlington National Cemetery is a deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump's reelection bid, NPR has learned. The former president insisted this week the incident did not happen, highlighting a growing disconnect between the messaging of the candidate and his campaign. NPR is identifying both staffers after the campaign's conflicting responses to the incident last week outside Section 60 of the cemetery, where many casualties of Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

The two staffers, according to a source with knowledge of the incident, are deputy campaign manager Justin Caporale and Michel Picard, a member of Trump's advance team.