Philip Marcelo
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday it is exploring whether the federal government can control the 9/11 memorial and museums in New York City.
The location in the lower Manhattan, on September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers were destroyed by a hijacked jetliner, which contained two memorial pools with waterfalls and railings, with the names of the dead, and an underground museum. Since opening to the public in 2014, the Memorial Square and Museum have been run by a public charity that is now hosted by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and is often a Trump critic.
The White House confirmed that the administration had a “preliminary exploratory discussion” of the idea, but refused to elaborate. The office noted that Republicans pledged last year on his campaign to make the site a national monument and protected and maintained by the federal government.
But officials at the National Memorial and Museum of Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum said the federal government cannot unilaterally take over the site under current law, which is located on land owned by the New York and New Jersey Port Authority.
Beth Hillman, the group’s president and CEO, said the U.S. government also “means no sense” about the cost and management of the website given Trump’s efforts to significantly cut federal bureaucracy.
“We tell stories of heroism and patriotism for the exhibition, and we are proud and convinced that our current operating model is glorious and effective in serving the public,” she said. She noted that the organization has raised $750 million in private funds and welcomed approximately 90 million visitors to open.
Last year, the museum and its recently available tax documents showed that last year, the museum had revenues of more than $93 million in revenue and spent about $84 million on operating costs, creating a surplus of nearly $9 million when depreciated.
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul expressed concerns about the federal takeover, citing recent efforts by the Trump administration to influence U.S. history through national monuments and museums, including Smithsonian.
The takeover idea also emerged a few months after the Trump administration cut briefly but then recovered, staffing in a federal program that provides health benefits for people with diseases that may be associated with toxic dust at the destroyed World Trade Center.
“The 9/11 Memorial belongs to New Yorkers – a family, survivor and first responder who has been carrying this legacy for more than two decades and ensures that we will never forget it,” Hochul said in a statement. “Before he intervenes in this sacred site, the president should first pay tribute to the survivors and support the families of the victims.”
Anthousa Katsimatides, a member of the museum’s board, lost her brother John in the attack, and she said she did not see any reason to change ownership.
“The incredible work they did told the story of that day without sugar coating,” she said. “It ran very well and I didn’t understand why it had to change. I couldn’t see any benefit.”
However, over the years, memorials and museums were also targeted by criticism from some of the larger communities of victims of 9/11, some of whom criticized ticket prices or called for changes to the composition of museum exhibits.
A Trump spokesman declined to respond to comments.
In the September 11 attack, hijackers killed nearly 3,000 people when they crashed the jet plane into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field. More than 2,700 of these victims were killed by the outbreak of the Twin Towers of the Trade Center.
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