President Trump is exploring ways to take federal control of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, according to two White House officials, amid criticism from some Sept. 11 victims’ families over the site’s finances and leadership.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, said the discussions have been preliminary and exploratory, and it was unclear exactly how the federal government would take control of the site in Lower Manhattan.
But as a candidate last year, Mr. Trump offered a preview of one potential option, pledging to designate the site of the Sept. 11 attacks a national monument. During a rally last September in Uniondale, N.Y., he said he wanted to ensure the “hallowed ground and the memory of those who perished there will be preserved for all time, preserved forever.”
The museum’s leadership rebuffed the idea. “At a time when the federal government is working to cut costs, assuming the full operating expenses for the site makes no sense,” Beth Hillman, the president and chief executive, said in a statement.
Marc La Vorgna, a spokesman for the museum, also questioned the legal basis for such a takeover. “We are certain that there is nothing in existing law that would give the federal government the unilateral ability to take the site over,” he said in a statement.
As part of the discussions inside the Trump administration, officials have assessed options for how they would integrate the museum and memorial into the federal government. The site opened in 2014 and drew 2.4 million visitors last year.
The preliminary discussions about taking over the museum come as Mr. Trump has sought to impose his will on the Smithsonian Institution, which operates 21 museums and the National Zoo. The Smithsonian is heavily reliant on federal money for much of its $1 billion budget, but has been governed as a federal trust, not by the executive branch.
For years, some of the families of victims have loudly criticized the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, complaining about high ticket prices and large salaries for the leaders. They have also questioned where the unidentified remains of some of those killed in the attacks should be kept. Mr. Trump has met with some of those families and has expressed sympathy for their concerns, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Mr. Trump is not expected to attend the ceremony at Ground Zero next week to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the people said. He will attend a ceremony at the Pentagon and then travel to New York later that day to attend a Yankees game.
Should Mr. Trump try to move forward with taking control of the 9/11 site, it would be his latest attempt to meddle in the affairs of New York City, the place he spent most of his life and still cares deeply about, even as he has largely been shunned by the city because of his politics.
Advisers to Mr. Trump have discussed giving Mayor Eric Adams a position in the administration so he would drop out of the mayoral race — an effort to damage the chances of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic front-runner.
Mr. Trump also has a longstanding feud with Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor.
Mr. Bloomberg is the largest donor to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and is the chair of its board of trustees. He has given $50 million over the years, said Mr. La Vorgna, the museum spokesman. Mr. Bloomberg took office just months after the attacks, and led the city through the recovery.
Many of Mr. Trump’s allies were deeply involved in the city’s response to the attacks. Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s close ally and former lawyer, served as mayor at the time and became known as “America’s Mayor.” Mr. Trump said on Monday that he would award Mr. Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump’s commerce secretary and a founding trustee of the museum and memorial, was the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, a brokerage firm whose offices were headquartered in the World Trade Center. Hundreds of the company’s employees, including Mr. Lutnick’s brother, died in the attacks.
The memorial and museum’s website offers tickets for $36 for adult admission, and guests can pay as much as $56 for admission with a tour, prices that have raised eyebrows for what is considered something of a national shrine. By contrast, the Smithsonian offers free admission to all of its museums, except the Cooper Hewitt in New York.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum does offer some tickets for free, including for active or retired U.S. military service members and the families of Sept. 11 victims.
It is run as a nonprofit entity, and has also faced some criticism over the size of salaries paid to senior executives. The museum has insisted that its pay lags behind peer institutions.
In her statement, Ms. Hillman defended the site’s performance: “In the aftermath of 9/11, patriotic New Yorkers and Americans came together to create a memorial and museum to honor the 2,977 innocent victims killed by the attacks. Since then, we’ve raised $750 million in private funds to build and sustain this tribute and welcomed 90 million visitors to the memorial.”
She added: “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.”
According to the organization’s most recent IRS filing, for 2024, it generated nearly $69 million from general museum revenues, which included money from admissions, tours and membership. That made up a majority of the institution’s $93.3 million in revenues.
It received about $4.5 million in government grants, including about $4 million from the National Park Service.
Most museums rely far more heavily on fund-raising. Its reliance on admission revenues led to a financial crisis during the pandemic, when it was closed for several months. It suffered a severe budget crisis that forced the nonprofit museum to make cuts, including furloughs and layoffs that affected around 60 percent of the staff.
In the latest financial year, its expenses exceeded revenues, creating a deficit of $19 million and prompting further questions about how it was run. Mr. La Vorgna, the spokesman, said the deficit was purely on paper, and took into account depreciation. In pure cash, he said, it had a surplus last year of $8.7 million. Ms. Hillman has said the institution has run a surplus since the pandemic.
Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
Graham Bowley is an investigative reporter covering the world of culture for The Times.
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