President Joe Biden will be in Alaska for less than two hours on Monday, marking the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
The White House released the September 11 schedule on Sunday evening, after the president spent two days in New Delhi, India for the G20 leaders’ summit and then traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, as the US’s diplomatic status with the Asian nation was elevated .
On Monday morning, the White House also noted from Vietnam that the Biden administration would install a 9/11 Memorial on the North Portico starting at 6:30 a.m. — as Biden will not commemorate the terror attacks until hours after the Twin Towers hit. .
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shared only vague details about how Biden would mark the solemn anniversary once the Vietnam leg of the Asia trip was added.
It would be the first time a president did not attend one of the anniversary services at Ground Zero, the Pentagon or in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, or host a memorial service at the White House, as Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama each did during one year of their term of office.
BACK IN TIME: President Joe Biden (left) spent the morning of Monday, September 11, meeting with Vietnamese leaders, including Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right). He then crosses the International Date Line on the occasion of 9/11 in Alaska
Light shines from Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center stood before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is typically the refueling stop for Air Force One.
These stops typically last about 90 minutes because the president’s plane is filled with gas.
DailyMail.com asked Jean-Pierre during a press conference in late August for details on how Biden would mark the 9/11 anniversary in Alaska.
She was asked if there had been discussions about scheduling the Vietnam leg of the trip before the president arrived in India, so as not to miss the day at any of the three plane crash sites.
“So look, we’ll – we’ll have more on this – on September 11th in Alaska. As you men – as you just said, I explained – announced that,” she said.
“Look, the president wanted to make sure that as president he did something to commemorate 9/11. And that’s what you see. You see the president doing that,” Jean-Pierre continued. ‘We will certainly share more details. I just don’t have anything outside of that anymore.’
President Joe Biden listens to Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong during a meeting at the presidential palace in Hanoi. He will meet with Vietnamese officials on Monday morning, September 11, and then pay tribute to Senator John McCain.
President Joe Biden delivers a toast at a state luncheon Monday in Hanoi as he meets Vietnamese leaders during his five-day trip to India and Vietnam
Jean-Pierre was pressed again on Thursday for the plans aboard Air Force One as the president flew to India for the G20.
“Look, the president is going to celebrate the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in Alaska this year, as you just said, with service members and their families.
“And, as he does every year, as he has done every year, he plans to honor the lives lost and the families and loved ones who still feel the pain of the terrible day. This is something he finds very important to do. “We can only imagine the heartbreak and pain that the families of September 11 have felt every day for the past 22 years,” she continued.
She added that the “families have certainly been in his thoughts over the last few days and will remain in his thoughts as we approach the anniversary, as you know, which is coming Monday.”
Jean-Pierre wasn’t sure when asked if any family members of September 11th – or anyone else personally affected by the 2001 attacks – would be present.
“We will have more to share, but we will certainly meet with the service members and their families, which he said is incredibly important. We will definitely have more to share as we get closer to Monday,” she said.
Biden has planned a full day in Vietnam on September 11, including a visit to the late Senator John McCain’s memorial in Hanoi.
The monument’s location, next to Ho Truc Bach Lake, marks the spot where McCain’s plane was shot down during the Vietnam War.
The late senator spent five years as a prisoner of war in the country.
Former Secretary of State and Senator John Kerry, another Vietnam War veteran, will be with Biden as they were both colleagues and friends of McCain in the Senate.
Biden will then fly east and cross the International Date Line so he can mark 9/11 before the day ends in the US