Former presidents join 25th anniversary ceremonies at Ground Zero

The United States and communities around the world are marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people after four hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. At Ground Zero, Vice President JD Vance and former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton joined victims’ relatives in a ceremony featuring the reading of victims’ names and moments of silence, including a new tribute to people who later died from illnesses linked to toxic-dust exposure. President Donald Trump attended a separate ceremony at the Pentagon, while commemorations were also held in Washington, Boston and elsewhere. Coverage has focused on survivors’ and families’ memories, the heroism and national unity that followed the attacks, and the lasting effects on those who witnessed them. Accounts have also examined the response’s legacy, including wars, Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Islamophobia and expanded government surveillance, while political tensions over whether New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani should attend the Ground Zero ceremony have raised concerns about the observance becoming entangled in contemporary divisions.