Trump to honor 9/11 at Pentagon after NYC memorial forbids speech: Report

So the President of the United States wanted to speak at Ground Zero on the anniversary of the deadliest attack on American soil in our history, and the memorial's organizers said no. Not "no security clearance," not "no room on the program." No speeches, period, that's the rule. So Trump is going to the Pentagon instead, where he'll actually be allowed to say something about the day that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

There's something almost too on-the-nose about this. The Ground Zero ceremony has leaned for years on the idea that reading names in silence is the most solemn, dignified way to remember 9/11, and maybe for the families reading those names that's true. But a blanket no-speech policy also happens to be a very convenient way to avoid dealing with a sitting president you'd rather not hand a microphone to. Whether that's the intent or not, it's the effect, and it lands during a week when the country is supposed to be setting politics aside, not managing it.

The Pentagon ceremony isn't a consolation prize. Nearly 200 people died there too, and it's been the site of remarks from sitting presidents before. Trump speaking there isn't a snub of New York, it's New York snubbing the idea that the office of the presidency gets a few words on the day itself. That's a strange hill for anyone to plant a flag on, memorial etiquette or not.

Twenty-four years on, the arguments over how exactly to observe 9/11 shouldn't be this petty. But here we are, litigating a no-speech policy instead of just letting the man who currently holds the job say something to the country on a day that still deserves it.