President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation declaring Tuesday, August 26, 2025, a day commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing during then-President Joe Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.
Gold Star families of many of the 13 U.S. Servicemembers killed in the bombing joined Trump for the signing, standing behind him as he sat at the Resolute Desk. Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were also in attendance.
“This is a very special group of people. I’ve been with them from the beginning, Abby Gate,” Trump said, calling August 26, 2021, “one of the dumbest days in the history of our country by a previous administration.”
Trump said the Biden administration should have kept Bagram Airfield and departed from there, rather than the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, which led to disaster.
“At a minimum, they should have been at Bagram, the big field where we have hundreds of acres around it. Nobody’s going to get near it. They left from a small airfield, and the consequences were horrible,” Trump said. “And these people have been my friends, have been with me, and I’ve been with them 100 percent, and we meet more than once a year.”
Trump referenced one night at Trump Bedminster Golf Club, where they listened to music together late into the evening. The president also acknowledged those who were injured in the bombing.
“We have, like, 32 maybe more, but approximately 32 who lost their arms and their legs,” he said.
The 13 U.S. Servicemembers killed in the Abbey Gate bombing included eleven Marines, one sailor, and a soldier:
- Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
- Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California.
- Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California.
- Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska.
- Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana.
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas.
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri.
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming.
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California.
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California.
- Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio.
- Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee.
“We remember these great 13 souls, but we also remember the people that were so badly injured, our soldiers, 32 of them, approximately, and we’re in contact with them always,” Trump said.
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