Trumps to attend 9/11 anniversary ceremony near Shanksville

President Donald Trump will visit Somerset County to mark the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by participating in a ceremony at the 9/11 memorial.

The White House says the president will be accompanied at Tuesday’s ceremony near Shanksville by first lady Melania Trump.

Trump will become the second sitting U.S. president to visit the Flight 93 crash site on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Then-President George W. Bush visited the site in 2006, on the fifth anniversary of the attacks. Bush, along with then-President Obama and former President Bill Clinton visited the site the day before the 10-year anniversary of the attacks, at a dedication ceremony for the Flight 93 National Memorial.

“Certainly the president represents our country,” said Gordon Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93 organization, “Anytime we can get a sitting president out to recognize our loved ones, it’s a great honor and we appreciate it.”

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers flew commercial airplanes into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania field. The 40 passengers and crew on United Airlines Flight 93 are credited with trying to breach the cockpit after four hijackers tried to fly the plane to a suspected target in the nation’s capital.

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 surrounded by aides and administration officials at the exact time that hijackers rammed the first of two airplanes into the Twin Towers.

Trump also participated in a 9/11 observance at the Pentagon last year.