President Donald Trump has used a 25th-anniversary 9/11 ceremony to honour the victims and first responders of the September 11 attacks while warning that the United States continues to face serious security threats.
Speaking Tuesday at a commemoration on the White House Ellipse, Trump said the country faces “very real threats right now” and vowed that his administration would work to prevent another attack.
He also criticised unnamed forces that he said were attempting to move the United States in a “communistic way.”
The ceremony, organised with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, brought together approximately 150 first responders from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
A major feature of the event was a 21-foot steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The beam has been transported more than 10,500 miles around the country through the Steel Across America tour as a tribute to those killed and the emergency workers who responded to the attacks.
Trump also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Remy Crowther, whose courage on September 11 earned him the enduring nickname “Man in the Red Bandana.”
Crowther was 24 and working as an equities trader in the South Tower when the building was attacked. A volunteer firefighter, he used his red bandana to cover his face against the smoke while helping others reach safety.
He is credited with helping 18 people escape before the tower collapsed.
His mother, Alison Crowther, and sister, Paige Crowther Charbonneau, received the medal on his behalf.
The story of Crowther’s bravery became widely known through accounts from survivors who remembered being guided to safety by a man wearing the distinctive red bandana.
The president also remembered the firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel who died during the rescue and recovery efforts.
Trump announced that the US Coast Guard would name a new cutter after Jeffrey Palazzo, a firefighter and Coast Guard reservist who responded to the attacks.
During his remarks, Trump stressed the importance of ensuring that the devastation of September 11 is never repeated and promised to defend the United States against future threats.
The official 25th-anniversary events will take place Friday at the three main attack sites: the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania location where Flight 93 came down.
Trump is expected at the Pentagon, while Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to attend the New York commemoration on behalf of the administration.
The attacks of September 11, 2001, involved 19 al-Qaeda hijackers who took control of four passenger planes. Two aircraft struck New York’s World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the hijackers.
Almost 3,000 people were killed.
The attacks transformed US foreign policy and national security and became one of the defining events of the modern era.
As Americans prepare to commemorate the anniversary a quarter-century later, the ceremonies remain focused on those who lost their lives and the extraordinary courage of first responders and civilians. Trump’s remarks, however, also placed renewed emphasis on the security challenges facing the country today.
