Trump will attend a remembrance event at the Pentagon rather than in his birth city — a decision that has drawn intrigue and speculation amid Iranian assassination threats.
Page A4From§Eachthe supper edition — 3 September 2026
Barred from speaking at Ground Zero, Trump skips it and sends Vance to joke about Biden there.
“They tell you the president skipped Ground Zero over a stage-time technicality, and maybe that part's even true — but watch what fills the vacuum: not the widows' lawsuit, not the sealed Saudi files, a joke about Biden. That's the con: the empty chair gets a punchline instead of an answer, and the families still suing the Kingdom twenty-five years later get neither. You want to know who this country actually shows up for on the anniversary, count the podiums and count the files still locked in a drawer.”
“Look, this was never about avoiding Ground Zero — it's a scheduling and security question, full stop, the Pentagon ceremony has been in the works, nothing to see here. The Vice President represents the administration with dignity at these things, he's not going up there to — I mean, "intense intellectual conversations" with Biden, that's just — okay, that's a joke about the last president at a 9/11 memorial, I didn't write that line, he did. Did I say "dignity"? Let me circle back on that one.”
The receipts
President Donald Trump will be attending the Pentagon’s memorial of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks instead of New York City’s memorial at Ground Zero, according to a new report. Trump will speak at the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony at…
Vice President JD Vance quipped he was looking forward to spending time with former President Joe Biden during the commemoration service in New York City marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “As you guys can probably guess, I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden,”
JD Vance says he's "looking forward" to seeing Joe Biden at the World Trade Center 9/11 ceremony alongside former presidents and Rudy Giuliani.
President Trump originally intended to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 with remarks at ground zero, but the memorial’s organizers do not allow speeches. Mr. Trump changed his plans.
Twenty-five years after September 11, victims and their families are hopeful that newly uncovered records will aid in their decade-long lawsuit against Saudi Arabia.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.