9/11 anniversary marked by Trump absence, Mamdani row

New York marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks Friday with a Ground Zero ceremony marked by US President Donald Trump's absence and a dispute over Mayor Zohran Mamdani's attendance.

Trump was paying his respects at the Pentagon rather than attending the lower Manhattan ceremony, where Vice President JD Vance and former presidents George W. Bush, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton gathered.

The ceremony began just after 8:40 a.m. and was designed to be apolitical, with no speeches. Bereaved family members read the names of those killed, and bells marked major moments in the attacks.

Terry Strada, whose husband Tom Strada was killed, used unscripted remarks to accuse Saudi Arabia of complicity. “How can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?” she said.

Nineteen Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four airliners on September 11, 2001. Two planes hit the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, a third struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back. The attacks killed 2,977 people.

Mamdani, described as New York City's first Muslim mayor, attended despite a campaign urging him to stay away. The New York Post and former mayor Rudy Giuliani helped lead the campaign, and a petition opposing his attendance had gathered more than 100,000 signatures.

City council member Shahana Hanif told CNN it was concerning that the mayor was being treated differently because he is Muslim. Mamdani has also recently drawn praise for releasing thousands of documents about what city officials knew about toxic air in Lower Manhattan after the attacks.

More than 9,400 other people have died from 9/11-related illnesses, according to the federal program established to provide medical care to those affected. City police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said an anti-drone team would be deployed as a precaution for the anniversary gathering, but said there was no intelligence of a specific threat.

Ahead of the memorial, a drone show with 2,977 lights rose above New York Harbor, one for each person killed in the attacks.