King Charles III is expected to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Manhattan next week, where New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is also anticipated to be among the officials present, according to Politico.
The event is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29 in downtown Manhattan during the king’s visit to the United States, Politico reported, citing two sources familiar with the plans. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and other New York government officials are also expected to attend.
“The mayor will not meet privately with King Charles,” said Joe Calvello, a spokesperson for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “He was invited to join a number of New York elected officials next week at a wreath laying at the 9/11 memorial with members of the British royal family.”
King Charles’s visit would mark his first to New York City since becoming monarch. The last visit to New York by a reigning British king was in 1939, when King George VI traveled to the United States. Queen Elizabeth II visited the World Trade Center site in 2010 alongside then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Prince Harry visited Ground Zero in 2009 and later returned to the 9/11 Memorial in 2021, while Prince William visited the site in 2014 during a separate trip to New York.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla are set to visit the United States from April 27 to 30 at the invitation of President Donald Trump, who said the trip will “celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the UK and the US, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence” and will include a “beautiful Banquet Dinner at the White House on the evening of April 28.”
King Charles is also confirmed to address a Joint Meeting of Congress on April 28. Speaker Mike Johnson announced the address in a letter signed by Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, saying the speech would celebrate the “shared heritage” and alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Mamdani’s expected presence at the ceremony follows prior criticism of his remarks and associations connected to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In October 2025, Mamdani posted photos of himself with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, whom the New York Post identified as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Mamdani described Wahhaj as “one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community.” Wahhajhas denied being a terrorist. The photo prompted backlash from Republican lawmakers and public figures, including Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Ted Cruz, among others.
Michael Barasch, a leading 9/11 attorney whose firm represents more than 45,000 clients, told Breitbart News in October that survivors, first responders, and victims’ families were “disgusted and outraged” by Mamdani’s decision to campaign with Wahhaj. Barasch said the episode was “an insult to every 9/11 survivor and family member” and warned, “We can’t let Mamdani into City Hall.”
That same month, Breitbart News columnist John Nolte wrote that Zohran Mamdani “lied” after declaring in a public statement, “I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” while arguing that “Islamophobia has emerged as one of the few areas of agreement.”
Nolte explained that Mamdani has only one aunt, Masuma Mamdani, who “does not wear a hijab and who did not live in New York or even America during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,” and noted reporting that she “lived in Tanzania” at the time.
Vice President JD Vance said, “According to Zohran the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks.” Other social media users responded, with one writing that “2,977 people” were killed and that “families shattered forever and a Nation traumatized,” with another adding, “The real victims of 9/11 never rode the subway again.”
In February 2026, Mamdani announced a sanctuary-related executive order and invoked Islam’s Hijrah as a framework for migration. “I consider my own faith, Islam, a religion built upon a narrative of migration,” Mamdani said, referencing the story of the Prophet Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina.
He added, “If faith offers us the moral compass to stand alongside the stranger, government can provide the resources,” and vowed, “We will stand with the stranger today.” Mamdani also said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “visit terror upon our neighbors” and stated that ICE would not be able to enter certain New York City properties without a judicial warrant.
In March, Mamdani held an Islamic holiday gathering at City Hall where attendees sat on the floor, and an individual made a single-finger Tawhid gesture often associated with ISIS fighters and used by some hardline Muslims to signal religious authority.
He later hosted Mahmoud Khalil at Gracie Mansion for an iftar meal, calling him a New Yorker who belongs in the city after his detention by federal authorities. Khalil, a foreign national, has been characterized as backing jihadist attacks against Israel. Mamdani has also taken steps to expand the presence of Islamic groups in New York, including permitting additional mosques to broadcast messages framed as asserting Islamic supremacy five times daily across the city’s population.
Read the full article here