President Donald Trump to Skip Ground Zero on 25th Anniversary of 9/11

President Donald Trump is changing his plans for the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Trump, 80, a native New Yorker, will commemorate the anniversary at the Pentagon instead of joining other political leaders at Ground Zero in New York City. The president had initially planned to attend the September 11 ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in lower Manhattan, and his team had even conducted advance visits in preparation for his appearance, according to a New York Times report published Thursday, August 27.

But those plans changed after Trump sought to address the gathering. Per the report, the memorial has prohibited politicians from delivering remarks at the annual ceremony since 2012, a policy intended to keep the event nonpartisan and focused on victims and their families.

The president is now expected to attend the Pentagon’s commemoration, where he will be able to deliver a speech, according to the New York Times. Per the outlet, Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the Ground Zero ceremony on behalf of the administration. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama are also expected at Ground Zero for the milestone anniversary.

Trump’s appearance at the Pentagon will mark the second year in a row he has observed September 11 there. At the 2025 ceremony, he promised that the country would continue honoring those killed in the attacks. “We will defend the nation they served, the values they upheld and the freedom for which they died,” Trump said at the event. “We will support our troops, we will protect our families, and we will preserve the American way of life for every future generation.”

According to the Daily Mail, the president nevertheless made it to New York later that day, attending a Yankees game against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. And his last appearance at the Ground Zero anniversary ceremony came during the 2024 presidential campaign, one day after his debate against Kamala Harris. Trump and Harris both attended alongside then-President Joe Biden.

This year’s 9/11 ceremony will mark a quarter-century since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, which killed nearly 3,000 people.