Divided American Leaders Mark 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks

Donald Trump attended a ceremony at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on September 11, 2026, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Trump was seen shaking hands with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth during the remembrance ceremony in the Pentagon courtyard. The anniversary marked a quarter-century since al-Qaeda hijackers seized four commercial airplanes on September 11, 2001, striking the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, while another aircraft crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, which profoundly transformed American national security and foreign policy.

Trump was surrounded by several powerful figures from his administration and family at the Pentagon ceremony, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump Jr. and Pete Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer Rauchet Hegseth. Their presence came during a turbulent period for Trump’s inner circle. Bessent remains a central architect of the administration’s aggressive tariff and economic agenda, while Rubio has helped steer its increasingly confrontational foreign policy. Trump Jr., meanwhile, has faced scrutiny over his cryptocurrency ventures and investments connected to defense technology, including his stake and advisory role in drone company Unusual Machines, which secured a multimillion-dollar U.S. Army order.

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended the Pentagon’s 25th anniversary commemoration together, marking another rare joint appearance for a first lady who remains largely absent from the day-to-day political life of her husband’s White House. Melania had resurfaced publicly in August after more than a month away, joking, «I heard you missed me. Here I am.» Her return came as Trump faced growing scrutiny over the unusually close and highly visible role of longtime aide Natalie Harp, who frequently travels with the president and has become a fixture of his inner circle. Melania has appeared alongside Trump only sporadically throughout his second term.

Natalie Harp, Trump’s special assistant and executive assistant, attended the Pentagon commemoration as her unusually close relationship with the president faces growing scrutiny. The 35-year-old aide is rarely far from Trump, manages access to him and helps handle his Truth Social posts. Reports have described Harp once riding in an SUV trunk after being unable to secure a motorcade seat and later joining Trump’s secretive evacuation from Turkey. Her intensely personal letters to Trump also generated headlines, although their authenticity has not been independently verified by CNN. Now financial disclosures show Trump personally gave Harp a $45,000 «Cash Gift for Holidays,» prompting fresh ethics questions about their relationship.

At Ground Zero, the political picture looked dramatically different from Trump’s Pentagon ceremony. Former President George W. Bush, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Vice President JD Vance and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani were among the prominent figures attending the 25th anniversary commemoration at the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Bush returned to the site forever associated with his presidency, while Bloomberg remains chairman of the memorial he helped bring to completion. Vance represented the Trump White House in New York as the president stayed in Washington, while Giuliani arrived amid a bitter controversy after attacking Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Muslim faith and arguing he should not attend the ceremony.

Rudy Giuliani and Zohran Mamdani crossed paths at Ground Zero without appearing to acknowledge one another, days after the former mayor directed extraordinary criticism at his successor. Giuliani said Mamdani’s presence at the 9/11 ceremony «offends me,» attacked his Muslim faith and even compared him to the hijackers, accusing him without evidence of concealing hostility toward America. The encounter carried additional significance after Mamdani’s administration released roughly 170,000 pages of long-withheld 9/11 records. The documents reveal that city officials knew of serious toxic-air concerns around Ground Zero while the public was being reassured about safety, renewing uncomfortable questions about Giuliani’s administration and its handling of the aftermath.

Another striking moment came as George W. Bush appeared to stare toward Mamdani as the New York mayor walked past him. The image carried added symbolism because Mamdani’s document release has revived questions extending beyond Giuliani’s City Hall to the federal response under Bush. Records show officials were confronting evidence of dangerous contamination while residents and workers were receiving assurances about conditions around Ground Zero. The controversy also reaches the Bush-era Environmental Protection Agency, whose public safety assurances have faced scrutiny for decades. Mamdani has argued that government officials betrayed New Yorkers’ trust by failing to communicate the dangers, leaving renewed questions about accountability across city and federal government.

Former President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick briefly put politics aside as they shook hands during the 9/11 commemoration at Ground Zero, a striking encounter after years of attacks on Biden from the Trump administration. Lutnick himself has repeatedly blamed Biden for economic problems inherited by Trump, once declaring, «I love the fact that the Biden administration leaves us a pile of just horrible numbers. Horrible numbers.» He later argued that any possible recession would stem from «the Biden nonsense that we had to live with.» Their cordial exchange offered a rare moment of civility between figures from fiercely opposing administrations.

Another striking image brought Joe Biden, JD Vance and George W. Bush together at Ground Zero, three figures representing dramatically different chapters of American politics. Vance has repeatedly attacked Biden’s record and, just days earlier, sarcastically said, «I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden. I’m sure that we’ll have many, many intense intellectual conversations.» Bush, meanwhile, represented a different Republican era and the presidency forever associated with 9/11. Their presence in the same solemn setting offered a rare contrast to Washington’s bitter divisions, as political differences temporarily gave way to remembering the nearly 3,000 people killed 25 years earlier.

Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton were photographed together during the 25th anniversary commemoration at Ground Zero, adding another striking image to a gathering filled with political figures from different eras. Obama’s presidency was deeply shaped by the continuing consequences of 9/11, including the 2011 operation that killed Osama bin Laden, while Clinton governed during al-Qaeda’s rise before the attacks. Their presence also carried a sharp political contrast: all three have remained frequent targets of Trump’s rhetoric, while his administration has pursued investigations and accusations involving political adversaries and actions connected to previous Democratic administrations.

Joe Biden and George W. Bush stood together at Ground Zero, representing two very different chapters of the 25 years that followed 9/11. Bush was president when the attacks occurred and subsequently launched the U.S.-led War on Terror, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that reshaped American foreign policy. Biden, the most recent president before Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term, ultimately oversaw the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. Their appearance together symbolized how the consequences of September 11 stretched across successive administrations, political parties and generations of American leadership.

Sitting alone at Ground Zero, Rudy Giuliani presented a striking image 25 years after the tragedy that transformed him into «America’s Mayor.» Once celebrated nationally for his leadership after 9/11, Giuliani has since become a deeply polarizing MAGA figure and one of Trump’s fiercest defenders. His efforts challenging the 2020 election contributed to his disbarment, while two Georgia election workers won a $148 million defamation judgment against him. His troubles have also become personal: the 81-year-old was hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia this year, complicated by restrictive airway disease his spokesperson linked to toxic exposure following the World Trade Center attacks.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stood alongside former New York Gov. George Pataki, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Bill Hochul, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill at Ground Zero, bringing together officials from sharply different political camps. Lutnick represents a Trump administration frequently at odds with Democratic leaders such as Hochul and Sherrill, while Mamdani has become one of MAGA’s most prominent political targets. Pataki, New York’s Republican governor during the attacks, provided another link to September 11 itself. For a few solemn hours, figures divided by ideology, generation and party shared the same ground in remembrance.

Joe Biden attended the Ground Zero ceremony alongside his wife Jill as the former president continues confronting serious health challenges. Biden, 83, is living with aggressive prostate cancer that spread to his bones, although he recently said radiation treatment «worked as intended.» Jill has remained closely beside him throughout his illness while facing renewed criticism from Trump allies over her role during his presidency. MAGA figures have accused the former first lady of helping conceal Biden’s declining condition and pushing him to remain in the 2024 race. Jill has rejected claims of a cover-up, while acknowledging that her husband had been «slowing down» before leaving office.

Donald Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake during portions of the Pentagon ceremony, at times staring upward with heavy eyes as Melania Trump watched him while a uniformed official spoke. In another image, the 80-year-old president sat with his eyes completely closed. The scene follows a growing collection of public appearances in which Trump has appeared unusually drowsy, including recent Oval Office events where cameras captured him repeatedly closing his eyes for extended periods. The images have become particularly politically awkward for a president who spent years ridiculing Joe Biden as «Sleepy Joe,» while the White House has previously pushed back against suggestions that Trump was actually sleeping.

Trump’s appearance at the Pentagon also highlighted his controversial decision to skip Ground Zero on the 25th anniversary. The New York Times reported that Trump originally planned to attend the New York ceremony but changed course partly because its longstanding rules prohibit political speeches. Trump angrily disputed that explanation, insisting, «I would love not to speak, because I’m speaking all the time, and this is a day to remember the victims, and their beautiful family members.» When separately asked why he would not attend in New York, Trump offered a much shorter explanation: «Because I’m going to the Pentagon.» He ultimately delivered remarks at the Pentagon while JD Vance represented his administration at Ground Zero.