Donald Trump says "the immortal heroes of September 11, 2001" in Medal of Freedom ceremony

President Donald Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Welles Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter who repeatedly guided people from the South Tower’s 78th-floor sky lobby on September 11, 2001, before dying in the collapse. Crowther’s mother accepted the honor at the White House, where the ceremony recognized FDNY responders and victims’ families ahead of the 25th anniversary. In his remarks, Trump addressed the nearly 3,000 people killed that day and praised the courage of those who responded. The event also displayed a recovered steel beam from the South Tower, organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and Trump said a Coast Guard cutter would be named for a firefighter and reservist killed at the World Trade Center.