Trump Honors 9/11 Victims As Mamdani Releases 170,000 Pages Of Toxic Air Records

President Donald Trump on Tuesday honoured the victims and heroes of the September 11, 2001 attacks at the Ellipse outside the White House, pledging that America would “never forget” as the country prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

“Nearly 3,000 precious souls were stolen from us,” Trump said, referring to those killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard Flight 93. “We will never forget. We say it, and we mean it.” He described September 11 as a moment that divided history into “what came before” and after, saying it was “a day like no other” when people would always remember exactly where they were.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation event featured a 21 foot, nearly 17,000 pound steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The beam had travelled across the US during the Steel Across America tour.

“This battered piece of steel here today on the Ellipse is a reminder that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer, and no terror can destroy,” Trump said. About 150 first responders from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania attended.

Trump also spoke about Iran, saying it had been close to obtaining a nuclear weapon but “now they have no chance of getting it”. “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” he said, while praising the US military and claiming its blockade had been highly effective.

He paid tribute to Jeffrey Palazzo, a New York firefighter and Coast Guard reservist, saying a new Coast Guard fast response cutter would be commissioned in his honour. Trump also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the “man in the red bandana”, who died after helping rescue people from the South Tower. His mother Alison and sister Paige accepted the honour.

Trump praised Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who lost his younger brother Gary and more than 650 Cantor Fitzgerald employees in the attacks. He also briefly turned political, warning against what he called a move towards a “communistic way”.

Meanwhile, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani released more than 170,000 pages of previously withheld 9/11 records concerning air quality, health concerns and the city’s response. The release followed a settlement of two lawsuits brought by 9/11 Health Watch.

The records include the Harding Memo, 68 boxes of documents discovered in 2025 and records concerning World Trade Center 7. They indicate officials knew about toxic conditions and asbestos around Ground Zero despite public assurances that the air was safe. Mamdani said people became sick because leaders “lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air.”

The city has committed more than $34 million to its public records portal and will release additional documents over the next 12 months. It will also help survivors and first responders access federal health and compensation programmes.

The steel beam will travel through New York on Friday, retracing fallen firefighter Stephen Siller’s route, as commemorations culminate on the 25th anniversary.