US President Donald Trump has warned that the United States is facing what he described as “very real threats right now” as the country prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Trump made the remarks Tuesday during a memorial ceremony on the Ellipse outside the White House, where he paid tribute to victims of the attacks and the first responders who lost their lives while attempting to save others.
The president also accused unnamed individuals of trying to push the United States in what he called a “communistic way,” adding a political dimension to an event focused largely on remembrance and national security.
The ceremony was organised in partnership with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and featured a 21-foot steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
The beam has travelled more than 10,500 miles across the United States as part of the foundation’s Steel Across America tour. It serves as a travelling memorial to those who died in the attacks and the emergency personnel who responded.
About 150 first responders from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania attended the event.
One of the most emotional moments came when Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Remy Crowther, who became known as the “Man in the Red Bandana.”
Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter, was working in the South Tower when it was attacked. He used a red bandana to protect himself from smoke while helping people escape the building.
He is credited with saving 18 people before the South Tower collapsed.
Crowther’s mother, Alison Crowther, and his sister, Paige Crowther Charbonneau, accepted the country’s highest civilian honour on his behalf.
His story remains one of the most remembered examples of individual bravery during the September 11 attacks, with survivors recalling how a man wearing a red bandana helped guide them toward safety.
Trump also honoured the firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers who died during the response.
The president announced that a new US Coast Guard cutter would be named after Jeffrey Palazzo, a firefighter and Coast Guard reservist who responded to the attacks.
Trump said the United States must ensure that the tragedy of September 11 is never repeated and pledged to protect the country from future attacks.
The formal 25th-anniversary commemorations will take place Friday at the three locations targeted during the 2001 attacks: the World Trade Center site in New York, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania field where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed.
Trump is scheduled to visit the Pentagon, while Vice President JD Vance is expected to represent the administration at the New York ceremony.
The September 11 attacks were carried out by 19 al-Qaeda hijackers who seized four commercial aircraft. Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center, another struck the Pentagon and the fourth crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to regain control.
Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, which profoundly changed US national security policy and reshaped the country’s approach to terrorism and foreign affairs.
Twenty-five years later, the anniversary continues to serve as a moment of remembrance, while Trump’s warning about current threats has brought a contemporary security message to this year’s commemorations.
