President Donald Trump will reportedly skip New York City’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony this year, in part because he cannot give a speech.
Yes, really.
Trump had initially planned to join former presidents and other officials at Ground Zero on September 11, marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
But according to The New York Times, those plans changed after memorial organizers apparently reminded Trump’s team that politicians are not permitted to give speeches at the 9/11 Memorial.
This isn’t a new rule. It wasn’t created for Trump. And it isn’t exactly a secret.
The policy was adopted after years of political battles surrounding the construction of the memorial angered victims’ families, who worried that partisan fights were overshadowing the people who died.
The idea is pretty simple: Keep the politicians from turning the memorial into a political stage.
Trump has previously attended the New York ceremony under those rules.
In 2024, during the presidential campaign, he appeared at Ground Zero alongside then-President Joe Biden, then-Vice President Kamala Harris and other officials. They stood together and remembered the victims.
No political speech. No campaign rally. Just a memorial ceremony.
This year, however, Trump reportedly won’t be making the trip because he wanted to give a speech and was told “no.”
And that raises an obvious question. Was the problem that Trump couldn’t attend, or that he couldn’t speak?
It’s a particularly interesting question given what happened at last year’s Pentagon ceremony.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended the 9/11 remembrance there, and Trump delivered remarks honoring the victims and first responders.
He also found time to talk about his administration.
“In America we take blows, but we never buckle. We bleed, but we do not bow, and we defy the fear, endure the flames and emerge from the crucible of every hardship stronger, prouder and greater than ever before,” Trump said.
Then came another familiar Trump talking point.
“Last year we were a dead country, now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world,” he declared.
Trump has repeatedly used variations of that line at rallies and during public appearances.
Later that day, he flew to New York City to attend a Yankees game.
So there was apparently no problem getting Trump to New York when there was a baseball game on the schedule.
But a 9/11 ceremony where he can’t take the microphone?
According to the Times report, that’s where things apparently changed.
Meanwhile, several prominent political figures are expected to attend the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero, including former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to officials familiar with the planning.
They’ll gather at the site of the former Twin Towers to remember the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives.
Trump is expected to be at the Pentagon instead.
