President Donald Trump is marking 17 years since the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil by visiting the Pennsylvania field that became a Sept. 11 memorial.
Trump and his wife, Melania, were participating in Tuesday’s somber remembrance in Shanksville. It’s where a commercial airliner crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, after the 40 passengers and crew members learned what was happening and fought to regain control of the aircraft from radical Islamic terrorists. Everyone on board was killed.
Nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11 when other airplanes were flown into New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in an attack planned by radical Islamic terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
Trump, a New York native making his first visit as president to the Shanksville site, will focus on honoring the many lives that were lost that day.
“Certainly the focus will be on remembering that horrific day and remembering the lives that were lost, and certainly honoring the individuals who were not only lost that day, but also put their lives of the line to help in that process,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
Trump observed the solemn anniversary for the first time as president last year. He and the first lady led a moment of silence at the White House accompanied by aides and administration officials at the exact time that hijackers flew the first of two airplanes into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.
The president also participated in the Pentagon’s Sept. 11 observance last year. Vice President Mike Pence will represent the administration there on Tuesday.
A native New Yorker, Trump has a strong link with 9/11.
Trump often lauds the bravery of New York police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders who rushed to the Twin Towers, in some cases knowing they probably wouldn’t make it out alive, as an example of the resilience of the city where he made a name for himself.
But Trump has criticized former President George W. Bush’s handling of the attacks, accusing his fellow Republican of failing to keep Americans safe.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.