The leaders of the nation are preparing to stand together where thousands of names will be read aloud, but one empty place will carry a story of its own.
The United States will mark 25 years since the September 11, 2001, attacks with an intensely emotional ceremony at Ground Zero in New York City on September 11, 2026. Every president still alive is expected to be there except one, and the reason behind his absence has made an already historic day feel even more politically charged.
A Sacred Ceremony Leaves No Room for Politics
For the families gathering on the 9/11 Memorial plaza, the morning will center on the people who went to work, boarded flights, responded to calls for help, and never came home.
Relatives will read the names of 2,983 men, women, and children killed in the September 11 attacks and the February 26, 1993, bombing of the World Trade Center. The recitation will continue for hours, turning each individual name into a reminder of the lives behind a number that can otherwise feel impossible to absorb.