Vance jokes about rubbing elbows with former president at Ground Zero: ‘Intense intellectual conversations’

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he is "looking forward" to meeting with former President Joe Biden while in New York City next week for the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

"I'm really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden. I'm sure that we'll have many, many intense intellectual conversations and, you know, it'll be great. We'll have a great time with Joe Biden and the other presidents," Vance said while hosting the first White House press briefing after former press secretary Karoline Leavitt exited in August.

Vice President JD Vance will travel to Ground Zero on 9/11, joining former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush for a remembrance ceremony.

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Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news briefing at the White House on Sept. 3, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The last known time Vance and Biden were in the same room was at President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

"We just decided as a team that I would go to New York for 9/11 and the president would stay here in D.C., of course, to commemorate what happened at the Pentagon, because that was a critical part of the tragedy of 9/11 as well," said Vance.

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Former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden board a helicopter outside the U.S. Capitol following President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

Trump is expected to attend a ceremony at the Pentagon, and other administration officials will represent the White House in Shanksville, Pennsylvania — marking all three locations targeted or affected by the attacks. Vance said during the press conference that there was no indication Trump was staying in the nation's capital due to security concerns in New York City. 

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Donald Trump attends the annual 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on Sept. 11, 2024, in New York City alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and then-Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

"I will say that as much as it's tragic and it was a terrible day, I am looking forward to it because it's such an amazing honor to be able to get to go to New York and to share in that moment," said Vance.

Vance said it is especially meaningful for parents to show their children the names of those who were killed, recalling that he did so with his own family during the 2024 campaign.

"It's one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I encourage every American, particularly the people who are young enough to not really remember that day, just to tune in for a couple of hours and see what it meant," Vance added.

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Vance said the tragic day brings a "sense of commonality and common purpose" for Americans to unite.