President Trump Slams Mamdani And AOC For Laughing During 9/11 Ceremony

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) at New York City September 11th 25th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony pic.twitter.com/ctq0lDxrik

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 11, 2026

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President Donald Trump called out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Sunday over a clip showing them laughing at the 9/11 memorial ceremony — two days after the liberal politicians were caught on camera seeming to smile and laugh with each other while names of those slaughtered in the terrorist attack were being read aloud.

“When you see that video of AOC and Mamdani laughing at the 9/11 ceremony in New York, what were your thoughts?” a female reporter asked Trump before he departed Ireland.

“I think it’s terrible. It’s not a place to be laughing, especially in that case. I thought it was terrible,” Trump said. “The fact that they were laughing together in a very important part of the ceremony was inappropriate.”

Trump’s denouncement followed Mamdani and AOC going viral on Friday, after cameras captured the pair smiling and laughing together at the 25th anniversary ceremony of the World Trade Center attack; their chummy interaction looked to critics especially disrespectful because it coincided with victims names being read aloud and right after the camera showed a man leaning against the memorial waterfall and weeping.

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President Trump reacts to video showing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani appearing to laugh during the 9/11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One in Ireland for his return to the U.S., Trump called the… pic.twitter.com/f8qYMa6Bg0

— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 13, 2026

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Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, political leaders from across generations gathered in New York City on Friday to honor the nearly 3,000 people killed that day. Vice President JD Vance was at the Ground Zero memorial ceremony alongside former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump, however, chose to commemorate the anniversary separately at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., rather than attend the ceremony in New York. His absence is notable given his previous appearances at the 9/11 Memorial, and the other prominent political figures in attendance.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also attended the event on Friday, despite a public request from former Mayor Rudy Giuliani that he stay away from the ceremony.

Giuliani, who was mayor of New York during the attacks, had urged Mamdani not to participate. Mamdani nevertheless attended.

The appearance also comes nearly two years after Trump attended the 9/11 Memorial alongside Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris in September 2024.

Their joint appearance was especially notable because Trump and Harris had faced each other in a presidential debate just hours earlier. The two shook hands during the memorial ceremony, briefly putting the political campaign aside to honor the victims.

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