Trump honors 9/11 first responders, victims, pledging ‘we will never forget’ 

President Donald Trump hosted first responders and families of victims from 9/11 Tuesday, promising to “never forget,” just days before the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks.

“We will never forget those we lost. And we will never forget the immortal heroes of September 11th, 2001,” Trump said at a Steel Across America event in Washington, D.C. More than 150 first responders from New York, along with dozens from Washington, D.C., Virginia and Pennsylvania, joined him at the event, Trump said.

The event was part of a campaign organized by Tunnels to Towers, a nonprofit supporting veterans and first responders, which has brought a steel beam from Ground Zero across the country to provide a reminder of the loss on 9/11.

“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.

At the event, Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to Welles Crowther, a then-24-year-old who saved countless lives on September 11, 2001.

“After the plane hit the South Tower, a group of people on the 78th floor were trapped with broken bones, charred skin and eyes and lungs filled with black smoke,” Trump said, saying death seemed certain. “They were sure they were going to die. Then, suddenly, a rescuer appeared.

“He willingly made all of these trips up and down, up and down, up and down, over and over again, saving life after life,” Trump continued. “That rescuer was a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter from Rockland County named Welles Crowther.”

Crowther’s mother and sister accepted the award on his behalf. “This means the world to me, my daughters, Paige and Honor, and our entire family,” Crowther’s mother said during remarks at the White House. “This will be treasured for generations to come.”

The president also recounted stories close to home for the administration, including that of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who lost his brother and hundreds of his employees at Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street firm located on the upper floors of the North Tower, on 9/11. The North Tower was struck first by an airliner but collapsed after the South Tower, which was also struck by an airplane.

Trump, a lifelong New Yorker, had his own story about 9/11, recounting his morning at Trump Tower, located four miles north of the World Trade Center.

“It was a beautiful, beautiful morning. I looked out and then all of a sudden I saw an alert on television, and I looked out my window and I saw things I never want to see again,” he said.

On Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Trump is set to attend a memorial at the Pentagon, which was struck by an airplane, while Vice President JD Vance will travel to New York City, site of the worst destruction.

“On the 25th anniversary of this tragic day, the president will remember those who were killed at the hands of evil terrorists, honor their loved ones, and pay tribute to the brave first responders who put their lives on the line to rescue their fellow Americans,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Heartlander News.

(Images credit: X/The White House)