President Trump is not expected to attend the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero in New York next month and will instead commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the Pentagon, where he will be permitted to deliver remarks, according to multiple reports.
Trump’s team had signaled in recent weeks that the president, a native New Yorker, planned to attend the annual memorial at the World Trade Center site and conducted advance visits there. Officials familiar with the discussions told The New York Times that Trump wanted to speak at the ceremony. Organizers refused.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum has barred politicians from giving speeches at the site since 2012, a policy intended to keep the ceremony nonpartisan and focused on the victims. Elected officials routinely attend, but the speaking is left to family members who read the names of those killed. The program includes six moments of silence marking the times the planes struck, the towers fell, the Pentagon was hit and United Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Trump is now expected to mark the anniversary at the Pentagon, which was also attacked on Sept. 11. He delivered remarks there last year. Vice President JD Vance is expected to represent the White House at Ground Zero.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said Trump, “as a proud New Yorker,” has spoken about watching the attacks unfold. “On the 25th anniversary of this tragic day, the President will remember those who were killed at the hands of evil terrorists, honor their loved ones, and pay tribute to the brave first responders who put their lives on the line to rescue their fellow Americans,” Kelly said.
Travel logistics also factored into the change, according to the Times. Trump is scheduled to leave the following day for Doonbeg, Ireland, where the Irish Open will be held near his golf course. Departing from the New York area would cause far greater road and air disruptions than leaving from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Trump last attended the Ground Zero ceremony in 2024. Before the Pentagon appearance, he is expected to attend a midterm political convention in Texas on Sept. 9 and 10. Among those expected in Manhattan are former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
The 25th anniversary ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 11.
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