All four living former U.S. presidents joined together to attend the memorial event for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York, which Donald Trump decided to skip.
Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush were all present at the World Trade Center memorial site on Friday to commemorate the 2,977 people who were killed in the attacks 25 years ago.
Trump was initially also set to appear at Ground Zero. However, the 80-year-old president will instead observe the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by attending a ceremony at the Pentagon, which was also targeted by a plane hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
The New York Times previously reported that Trump decided to bail on the New York ceremony after he was told he could not deliver one of his rambling speeches on the somber occasion.
Trump has denied the allegation and has repeatedly lashed out at The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, one of four reporters who broke the story that the president would not attend the ceremony after being informed he could not give a speech. Trump called it a “made-up story” and described Haberman as an “unattractive person both inside and out.”
Trump also attended a 9/11 memorial event at the Pentagon last year. The last time Trump attended a 9/11 ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City was in 2024, when he and JD Vance were running for the White House.
Vice President Vance was present at the New York ceremony on Friday morning, as was Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 election rival, who was a New York senator at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
Earlier this morning, former President Barack Obama posted a tribute to the victims of the attacks on X.
“If you were young in 2001, or weren’t even born yet, it can be hard to imagine what 9/11 felt like. The shock of that beautiful, cloudless morning. The heartbreak of the families whose loved ones were taken with such swiftness and cruelty. The realization that the forces of malevolence and violence were closer, and the future less certain, than we knew,” he wrote, before paying respects to first responders and New Yorkers.
“We hope Americans everywhere remember the true lesson of 9/11: that we can survive even our darkest days as long as we move forward as one nation and one people,” he concluded.
Other attendees included New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who, as mayor, led the city’s response to the 9/11 attacks 25 years ago.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald had an office in the World Trade Center and lost hundreds of its New York staff in the 9/11 terror attacks, was also in attendance.
The White House issued a statement just before the ceremony began on Friday morning.
“Today, we remember the 2,977 precious lives taken from us, honor the heroes who answered the call, & keep their families in the heart of our Nation,” the statement read. “Above all, we must ensure the memory of 9/11 never fades, but is carried from one generation of Americans to the next. We will never forget.”
For the first time, this year’s ceremony will feature a moment of silence to commemorate those who died from illnesses such as cancer and respiratory conditions after being exposed to toxic dust clouds when the Twin Towers collapsed.
The New York Fire Department says that more of its members have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed in the attacks themselves.
