Political leaders and New Yorkers gathered at the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum this morning to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. All living former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, attended the ceremony in lower Manhattan, joined by Vice President JD Vance and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. President Trump was not present; he marked the anniversary at the Pentagon instead.
The ceremony began at 8:40 a.m. with the traditional reading of the names. Family members read aloud all 2,983 names, the 2,977 victims of the 2001 attacks plus the six people killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Seven moments of silence punctuated the morning, marking the moments when hijacked planes struck the North Tower, the South Tower, and the Pentagon, and when each tower fell. A seventh moment of silence was added this year at 12:30 p.m. to honor those who have died from 9/11-related illnesses.
The day was both a memorial and a mirror of a divided nation. Family member Terri Strada broke the ceremony’s tradition of avoiding political speeches, calling on the government to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its role in the attacks. Former New York Governor George Pataki told NPR that the polarization that followed 9/11 is his greatest disappointment. As night falls, the Tribute in Light will once again beam into the sky above Ground Zero, shining until dawn.
