Trump Honors 9/11 Responders at 25th Anniversary Event as He Defends 7-Month Iran War
Updated
Updated · CNN · Sep 8
Trump Honors 9/11 Responders at 25th Anniversary Event as He Defends 7-Month Iran War
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Sep 8
Summary
At a White House-area ceremony, Trump praised 9/11 first responders before a crowd gathered around a 21-foot, 13,900-pound steel beam recovered from the South Tower.
The tribute repeatedly turned political, with Trump using the event to justify the seven-month war with Iran and to warn of a "communistic" threat he ties to Democrats.
Trump also posthumously awarded Welles Crowther—the "man in the red bandana" who made three rescue trips in the South Tower—the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Howard Lutnick, whose former firm Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees on 9/11, was recognized despite recent scrutiny over his false claim that no Americans had died in the Iran war.
Friday's 25th-anniversary observances will split between New York and Washington: Trump plans to mark the day at the Pentagon, not the World Trade Center, where politicians have not spoken since 2012.