Obama to visit Ground Zero; Bush declines invite
President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (May 3, 2011) Credit: AP
President Barack Obama will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Ground Zero and meet with 9/11 families and first responders when he visits Thursday.
The White House provided the new details on the trip in a statement Wednesday.
Following the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Obama plans to mark the occasion by visiting the most famous site of bin Laden's destruction.
The president invited former President George W. Bush to accompany him, but Bush declined.
The White House says Obama's trip will include a private meeting with family members of 9/11 victims, a meeting with first responders that will be open to some news coverage, and a wreath-laying at the 9/11 memorial.
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