President Donald Trump is pushing back on reports that he skipped the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero because organizers would not allow him to deliver remarks.
Trump said Friday that he never demanded to speak and insisted he believed organizers likely would have made an exception if he had wanted one.
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The dispute emerged after earlier reporting said Trump’s team had indicated that he wanted to speak at the New York ceremony, where politicians have not been permitted to deliver speeches since 2012. Trump rejected that account during an interview with Sid Rosenberg on 77 WABC, saying the explanation for his absence was wrong.
“It’s just not true. I didn’t demand to speak,” Trump said.
“I’m sure if I wanted to speak, they would have let me,” he added, saying he was “99% sure.”
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Trump said his confidence came partly from being president and knowing members of the organization connected to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
He also said he had no particular desire to deliver another address at Ground Zero.
“I speak enough; the last thing I want to do is speak,” Trump said.
Instead of attending the New York ceremony, Trump marked the anniversary at the Pentagon, one of the three sites struck during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Vice President J.D. Vance represented the administration at the Ground Zero observance in Lower Manhattan.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum has maintained a policy since 2012 barring politicians from delivering speeches during the annual Ground Zero commemoration, with the event centered on victims and their families.
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That policy became the focus of the controversy after reports said Trump’s interest in speaking played a role in his decision not to attend.
Trump’s Friday comments directly disputed that characterization but did not establish whether organizers had actually offered or would have offered him an exception.
His assertion that he likely could have spoken was framed as his own expectation rather than a statement from memorial officials.
The president instead delivered remarks at the Pentagon ceremony, where he honored those killed in the attacks and discussed the broader national-security lessons of September 11.
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Trump also linked the anniversary to the ongoing conflict with Iran, arguing that the attacks demonstrated the importance of confronting threats to the United States.
His decision to attend the Pentagon rather than Ground Zero marked a different approach from some previous anniversary observances.
Presidents have at times visited multiple September 11 sites on major anniversaries, including Ground Zero, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Joe Biden visited all three sites for the 20th anniversary in 2021, while Barack Obama did so for the 10th anniversary in 2011 and George W. Bush visited all three on earlier milestone anniversaries.
Trump last appeared at Ground Zero for the annual September 11 ceremony in 2024 while campaigning for president.
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🚨 NOW: Literally FIVE HOURS after getting back to DC, President Trump has taken the podium at the Pentagon to honor the victims of 9/11
“25 times, we have gathered at this hallowed place and at Ground Zero in New York, and a lonely field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In 25… pic.twitter.com/u8q7YDFQfx
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 11, 2026
At that event, he stood alongside then-President Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris during the remembrance ceremony.
Friday’s comments therefore centered less on the substance of the anniversary observances than on the reason behind Trump’s decision to mark the day elsewhere.
The earlier reporting suggested a disagreement over speaking restrictions, while Trump now says there was no such demand and that he simply did not want or need to speak at Ground Zero, The Washington Times reported.
For now, the two accounts remain in tension, with Trump publicly rejecting the suggestion that the memorial’s longstanding speech rules kept him away.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
