Pam Jagdarry leaves flowers at the memorial ahead of a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the National September 11 Memorial in New York City on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)
NEW YORK, Sept 12, 2026 (AFP) – New York commemorates the 25th anniversary of the devastating September 11, 2001 attacks Friday with a ceremony marked by US President Donald Trump’s absence and right-wing outrage at the attendance of the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Trump paid his respects at the Pentagon, not New York, where hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center and killed most of the 2,977 total victims on that world-altering day.
Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s four living predecessors — Republican George W. Bush, who was in office during the attacks, and Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — are all expected at the “Ground Zero” site in lower Manhattan.
No one gave speeches at the ceremony, while bereaved family members read out the names of all of those killed and a bell rung to mark major moments during the attack.
“Memorials like this and discussions about those events are an important part of keeping it alive and understanding how we prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,” said Robert Kafka, a Chicagoan in his 60s visiting the 9/11 Memorial.
Beyond those killed on September 11, more than 9,400 other people have died from 9/11-related illnesses, according to the federal program established to provide medical care to those affected.
Some 100 million Americans were not even born or are too young to remember the tragic events.
Huge crowds gathered in Lower Manhattan for the memorial service.
Al-Qaeda meanwhile has marked the anniversary by releasing a video showing images of late leader Osama bin Laden and his son Hamza, who Trump said in 2019 had also been killed.
Ahead of the memorial, a drone show with 2,977 lights rose above New York Harbor, one for each person killed in the attacks.
AFP
