The Marine Corps said that uniformed service members who attended an event at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last week were there in support of a nonprofit focused on preventing veteran suicide, not for a political fundraiser.
The service said that reserve members from the 4th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, or ANGLICO, color guard attended the April 11 event hosted by the Grey Team, a nonprofit veterans organization. The image of the Marines went viral on X, formerly Twitter, and was panned as a violation of apolitical military norms, which the Marine Corps has denied.
Military.com reviewed a copy of the form requesting the Marines at the event, which said that the color guard was invited to the “America First Gala” at the request of the Grey Team's co-founder. An official familiar with the chain of command's thought process said that the request was not deemed political “solely by nature” of occurring at Mar-a-Lago during an election year.
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Mar-a-Lago serves as the base for Trump's campaign, but also hosts weddings, private events and galas, according to its website.
“The approvers of the request can accurately be described as younger Marines who in all likelihood were not aware of the implications of the term ‘America First' — or — since the former president wasn't going to be there, decided it was nonpolitical…
