Trump honors 9/11 victims at the Pentagon: “We mourn them, we honor them, and we pledge to never, ever forget them” https://t.co/YGaJxdx6cs
— CNN (@CNN) September 11, 2017
On Monday morning, President Trump delivered remarks on the 16th anniversary of 9/11. In doing so, he commemorated the day that nearly 3000 people perished in coordinated attacks — four flights that crashed into the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and a western Pennsylvania field. Chief of Staff John Kelly must have told Trump this was a make-or-break moment, for what transpired was a rare instance of Trump sticking to the teleprompted script. He first offered thoughts and prayers to the victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, and then #45 launched into an appropriately somber address.
In other words, Trump did not — as he has done in the past — refer to the occasion as “7-Eleven,” nor did he brag about having the tallest building in the NYC skyline following the terror attacks. He didn’t even claim that he could have stopped Osama Bin Laden, so General Kelly earned his paycheck today. In all seriousness, here’s part of what Trump said:
“On that day, not only did the world change, but we all changed. Our eyes were opened to the depths of the evil we face. Put in that hour of darkness, we also came together with renewed purpose. Our differences never looked so small, our common bonds never felt so strong. The sacrifice grounds on which we stand today are a monument to our national unity and to our strength.
He also paid tribute to the Pentagon as an American symbol recognized worldwide, and he spoke of those who perished there in 2011:
“[A]mong the 184 brave Americans who perished on these grounds were young enlisted service members dedicated civil servants who had worked here for decades and veterans who served our nation in Korea, in Vietnam and in the Middle East. All of them loved this country and pledged their very lives to protect it, that September morning, each of those brave Americans died as they had lived, as heroes, doing their duty and protecting us and our country. We mourn them, we honor them and we pledge to never ever forget them.”
You can watch Trump’s full 9/11 address below.