Donald Trump has marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by honouring victims and first responders at a ceremony on the Ellipse outside the White House, where he pledged that America would “never forget”.
The event, held on Tuesday 8 September, centred on a 21ft steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Centre. The nearly 16,900lb section has travelled more than 10,500 miles across the United States as part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s Steel Across America tour.
“This battered piece of steel here today on the Ellipse is a reminder that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer and no terror can destroy,” Mr Trump said.
The president said the attacks were among the rare events that divided history into “what came before” and what followed, as the US began a week of commemorations leading up to the 25th anniversary on Friday.
The steel beam is due to be taken through New York on Friday in a procession retracing the route followed by firefighter Stephen Siller, who ran through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel towards the World Trade Centre after the attacks. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation was established in his memory.
Frank Siller, the foundation’s chairman and chief executive, said the beam represented the courage of those who responded on 11 September 2001.
“It’s important to recognise that the heroism that was exhibited that fateful day was nothing short of incredible,” he said.
Tributes to 9/11 heroes
Mr Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour, to Welles Crowther, an equities trader and volunteer firefighter remembered as the “man in the red bandanna”.
Crowther helped lead people to safety from the South Tower before he was killed. His mother, Alison, and sister, Paige, accepted the medal on his behalf.
The president also paid tribute to Jeffrey Palazzo, a New York City firefighter and Coast Guard reservist who died while responding to the attacks as a member of Rescue Squad 5.
The US Coast Guard is due to commission its 63rd Fast Response Cutter, named the Jeffrey Palazzo, at a ceremony in Manhattan on Saturday 12 September. The vessel was delivered to the Coast Guard in June and is expected to be based in Guam.
About 150 first responders from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania attended Tuesday’s ceremony, alongside senior members of the Trump administration and Congress.
Among those recognised was Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm based at the World Trade Centre. Mr Lutnick lost his younger brother, Gary, and more than 650 employees in the attacks.
Mr Trump praised him for rebuilding the company and for directing profits towards families of those who died.
The president also recalled visiting the area after the attacks and hearing a nearby building creak. He said two firefighters had lifted him by the arms and carried him away after fearing that the structure might collapse, although his remarks did not make clear precisely when the incident occurred.
Mr Trump and Vice-President JD Vance are due to attend further commemorations on Friday, including an event at the Pentagon. The anniversary will also remember those killed at the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
