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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on June 4, 2019 in a Facebook post: Says Donald Trump is the first sitting U.S. president in 56 years to not attend a wreath-laying ceremony on Veterans Day. ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"pants- fire\\"](\\" * Fake news * Veterans * Facebook Fact-checks * Viral image ![\\"Samantha](\\" By Samantha Putterman June 10, 2019 # No, multiple presidents have missed the Veterans Day wreath-laying ceremony – not just Trump These days, spreaders of misinformation will go to any length to pass off bogus rumors as legitimate information including, it seems, screenshotting a portion of an actual fact-check without including, um, the actual fact-check! That’s what one Facebook post attempts in a screenshot of a Snopes article involving President Donald Trump. The only problem is ... the photo is only of the claim that Snopes researched, not the conclusion. The screenshot shows Snopes’ URL and the claim, which reads: \"November 2018 marked the first Veterans Day in 56 years upon which a sitting U.S. president did not attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.\" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The screenshot conveniently cuts off right before the Snopes rating – which, of course, you already likely know is False. There is no mention of the \"False\" rating or all the reasons why that fact-checking organization determined this claim is completely wrong. According to the Snopes article, it is accurate that Trump did not attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington on Veterans Day in 2018, but he was nowhere near the \"first sitting U.S. president in 56 years\" to do so. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 22, 2024 in Facebook posts Jason Aldean rejected a $500 million music collaboration with Taylor Swift. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • August 26, 2024 Several presidents have not attended the ceremony at one time or another. Obama was elsewhere in 2014 and 2010; George W. Bush did not attend in 2008, 2007, 2005 and 2001; George H.W. Bush was not present in 1989, 1990 and 1992. Since 1989, President Bill Clinton is the only one to have attended the event all eight years of his presidency. Our ruling A viral image on social media claims that president Trump was the \"first\" sitting U.S. president who did not attend the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day 2018. It is accurate that Trump was elsewhere that day, but he is not the first president to be absent from the event. Three out of the four presidents who preceded Trump observed the holiday elsewhere. This screenshot is a blatantly inaccurate and incomplete depiction of a fact- check. We rate it Pants on Fire! #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Facebook post, June 4, 2019 Snopes, Was Donald Trump the First President in 56 Years Not to Visit Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day?, Nov. 16, 2018 CBS, Obama Not the 1st President to Miss Memorial Day at Arlington, May 31, 2010 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Day Speeches, Accessed June 10, 2019 CSPAN, Veterans Day wreath-laying ceremony 2014, Accessed June 10, 2019 WhiteHouse.gov, Remarks by the Vice President at the National Veterans Day Observance, Nov. 11, 2017 White House archives, FACT SHEET: President Obama’s Visit to China, Nov. 11, 2014 White House archives, President Obama to America\'s Veterans: \"We Remember.\", Nov. 11, 2010 New York Times, Bush Honors Veterans at the Intrepid, Nov. 11, 2008 White House archives, President Bush Marks Veterans Day at National Fallen Soldiers Memorial Ceremony in Waco, Texas, Nov. 11, 2007 White House archives, President Commemorates Veterans Day, Discusses War on Terror in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, Nov. 11, 2005 YouTube, MT136 Dedication of the Texas Vietnam War Memorial in Dallas, Texas - 11 November 1989, Accessed June 10, 2019 CSPAN, Veterans Day Remarks, Nov. 11, 1992 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Samantha Putterman ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on July 13, 2024 in social media posts: Donald Trump staged the shooting at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • July 14, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 6, 2024 in a moderated conversation: Black women in the U.S. are “three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • July 11, 2024 ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on July 27, 2024 in a Threads post: C-sections are coded as abortions in hospitals. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • July 5, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 28, 2024 in an ad: Project 2025 would defund K-12 schools. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • September 6, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Elizabeth Warren stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview: “JD Vance actually sent a letter last year to the Department of Justice saying, ‘enforce the Comstock Act.’” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ron DeSantis stated on August 28, 2024 in a press conference: The proposal to put golf courses, hotels in Florida state parks “was something that was leaked. … a lot of that stuff was half-baked and was not ready for prime time.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Debbie Mucarsel-Powell stated on August 7, 2024 in un anuncio de radio de campaña: El senador Rick Scott no apoya las excepciones al aborto. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Marta Campabadal Graus • August 16, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Debbie Mucarsel-Powell stated on August 7, 2024 in an ad: Sen. 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Says Donald Trump is the first sitting US president in 56 years to not attend a wreathlaying ceremony on Veterans Day