How US leaders remembered the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — SkimNews
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- Donald Trump skipped the World Trade Center ceremony in New York — where all his living presidential predecessors gathered — and spoke at the Pentagon instead, sending Vice President JD Vance to NYC in his place.
- Trump explicitly linked the 9/11 attacks to his administration's war against Iran, calling Iran "the world's number one sponsor of terror" and pledging it will "never, ever have a nuclear weapon."
- Pete Hegseth used his Pentagon remarks to justify the US-Israeli war against Iran — which began February 28 — claiming the US has "laid waste" to Iran and controls the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has blocked commercial traffic since the war's start.
- Zohran Mamdani, New York City's first Muslim mayor, attended the World Trade Center memorial alongside former mayor Rudy Giuliani despite a Change.org petition that drew 100,000+ signatures opposing his presence; Giuliani had previously called on him not to attend.
- Mamdani released previously undisclosed documents suggesting city officials downplayed dangerous air quality to first residents in the aftermath of the attacks.
- Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan's Democratic Senate candidate, fired back at Republican opponent Mike Rogers over accusations that he "thinks America deserved it," writing: "Nothing can justify the murder of innocent civilians. Nothing."
- Mike Rogers attacked El-Sayed at the Republican Party's first-ever midterm convention in Dallas over El-Sayed's links to left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, casting his opponent as "sympathetic to terrorists."
Why it matters: The 25th anniversary exposed sharp political fault lines over a day meant for unity: Trump and Hegseth turned Pentagon memorials into justifications for an ongoing war, while Mamdani and El-Sayed — both Muslim — had to defend their right to participate in the commemorations at all.
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