Donald Trump was conspicuously missing from the memorial services attended by former presidents marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on American soil - and Twitter users took note, sending "where's trump" trending Saturday.
President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton attended the main ceremony in Lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center's Twin Towers once stood, while former president George W. Bush spoke at a memorial close to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Biden later laid a wreath before visiting the Pentagon, where 44 people died. Lee Cochran, a spokeswoman for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, confirmed that Trump's people were given the same details about the ceremony but chose not to attend.
"He had the option to attend but decided to honor the day with different stops," Trump's spokeswoman, Liz Harrington, said.
Rather than attend the somber name-reading ceremony of those who perished, Trump posted a video and issued an aggressive statement. "For the great people of our country this is a very sad day," Trump said at the start of the video shared online. "September 11 represents great sorrow for our country."
He then turned his attention to praising his lawyer Rudy Giuliani (who was the mayor of New York on the day of the 9/11 attacks) and criticizing President Biden's troop pullout from Afghanistan.
By Rosemary Rossi