Trump to Attend Pentagon Memorial for 9/11 Instead of NYC Ceremony

<p>President Donald Trump will attend the Pentagon’s memorial for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks instead of the memorial at Ground Zero in New York City, according to a report from The New York Times.</p> <p>Trump will speak at the memorial ceremony at the War Department headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, shifting from his initial plan to go to Manhattan. This change is partly due to his desire to give a speech for the 25th anniversary of the attacks.</p> <p>The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which organizes the annual memorial at Ground Zero, prohibits speeches from politicians during its apolitical ceremony. Politicians, including Trump, have attended the New York City event in the past without delivering remarks to honor the nearly 3,000 victims of the attacks.</p> <p>U.S. presidents and politicians have previously delivered speeches on the September 11 anniversary at the Pentagon, from the White House, or in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the fourth plane crashed in 2001.</p> <p>In 2025, Trump commemorated the anniversary at the Pentagon ceremony, where he led a wreath-laying and delivered remarks honoring those who died and acted heroically during the attacks.</p> <p>In 2024, Trump attended the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero in Manhattan alongside then-Senator JD Vance, while former Vice President Kamala Harris attended with then-President Joe Biden.</p> <p>September 11, 2026, marks the 25th anniversary of the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks that killed 2,977 people in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Two planes struck the World Trade Center buildings in lower Manhattan, while one plane hit the Pentagon. The plane that crashed in Shanksville was diverted from its suspected target of Washington, D.C., as passengers fought back against the terrorists.</p> <p>The Washington Examiner has reached out to the White House for comment on The New York Times report.</p>