Many families of victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York City are expressing hope as President Donald Trump explores a federal government takeover of the museum and memorial at Ground Zero, but the organization’s leader is pushing back, saying it “makes no sense” for the government to take charge.
“At a time when the federal government is working to cut costs, assuming the full operating expenses for the site makes no sense,” Elizabeth Hillman, president and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, commented, reports The New York Post on Saturday. “We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively.”
Some who lost loved ones in the attacks on the World Trade Center say they welcome the federal government’s help, however.
“I am delighted,” said Sally Regenhard, who lost her son, firefighter Christian Regenhard, in the 2001 terror attacks. “This is answered prayers. It’s a godsend that the Trump administration, that Donald Trump, has heard the cries of the families.”
A White House spokesperson told The Post that preliminary exploratory discussions of a takeover are ongoing, after Trump pledged on the campaign trail last year to make the site a federally protected national monument.
“I am announcing tonight that as president, I will officially make the Ground Zero site at the World Trade Center a national monument protected and maintained by the United States government,” Trump said at a Long Island rally in September.
He added that the move would ensure the “hallowed ground and the memory of those who perished there will be preserved for all time — preserved forever.”
Momentum for the proposal grew after an investigation last month revealed soaring salaries for executives of the nonprofit that runs the museum, even as the organization has been running deficits for years.
Families have long pushed for the National Park Service to take control of the complex, including moving the remains of 1,100 unidentified victims from the museum’s basement and adding the names of those since identified by the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
“In the future, especially the parents of the victims, they’re not going to be here to tell the stories,” Regenhard said, in tears. “No one will know that my son was a firefighter and that he perished in the death trap of Ground Zero.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
