ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - SEPTEMBER 11: U.S. President Donald Trump salutes during the playing of "Taps" at a September 11th observance event in the courtyard of the Pentagon September 11, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Today marks the 24th anniversary of …
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump plans to mark the 25th observance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon rather than attend the annual Ground Zero commemoration in New York City, according to multiple reports.
Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the New York City ceremony in Trump’s place.
Why Trump is expected at the Pentagon
What we know:
Trump had been expected to attend the Ground Zero ceremony as recently as mid-August, according to the Post. It was not immediately clear why the plans changed.
The annual ceremony at the World Trade Center memorial does not include political speeches.
An American flag was unfurled at sunrise at the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. as Americans mark 24 years since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
What is planned at Ground Zero?
What they're saying:
The 25th remembrance commemoration begins at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 11, with the first moment of silence at 8:46 a.m.
Family members will read the names of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The ceremony will include seven moments of silence, marking the attacks, the towers’ collapse, the crash of Flight 93 and those who later died from 9/11-related illnesses.
Firefighters look into a vehicle damaged during the 9/11 terror attacks on the Twin Towers. Photograph is from 8 rolls of unedited film taken by an anonymous photojournalist at ground zero that day. (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs) …
Trump’s past 9/11 appearances
The backstory:
Trump attended the Ground Zero ceremony in 2024 and, during his first term, participated in Sept. 11 commemorations at the Pentagon and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
This year marks 25 years since the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Biden marked 2023 9/11 observance in Alaska
In 2023, then-President Joe Biden marked the 22nd observance of the Sept. 11 attacks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, rather than visiting Ground Zero, the Pentagon or the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris attended the annual Ground Zero ceremony in New York City.
Trump, by contrast, is expected to commemorate the 25th observance at the Pentagon.
The Source: This article was written using reporting from the New York Post and The New York Times, along with information from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum