Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
I had the honor to interview James-Christian Blockwood on March 21 for CityBiz.
Blockwood is executive vice president of the Partnership for Public Service, which believes that our future and our democracy depend on our ability to solve big problems — and that we need an effective federal government to do so. For more than 20 years, the Partnership for Public Service has helped make this vision a reality, helping our government — the public institution most fundamental to our democracy — address the challenges of the moment and those to come.
As executive vice president, Blockwood helps with overall strategy and management of the organization, and directly oversees its programs dedicated to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the federal government.
He is passionate about serving others and his country. He is a former career member of the senior executive service in the U.S. government and has broad experience in leadership and management, strategic planning, national security, and foreign affairs. He has helped transform and build new capabilities at the Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs departments as well as the Government Accountability Office.
He has a deep appreciation for the career civil servant — the consummate good steward that works tirelessly and faithfully on behalf of the American people.
The Partnership for Public Service takes bold action to develop effective leaders and address critical talent gaps; increase employee engagement and recognize excellence in the federal workforce; promote innovation and collaboration; rebuild public trust in government and help agencies meet customer needs; and strengthen the presidential transition process.
The organization serves as a bridge between administrations, across the political aisle and from the public to the private sector to develop forward-thinking solutions that improve the way our government works.
Fulfilling its mission also means embracing diverse voices, perspectives and discourse within and outside the organization, through fairness and equity — values rooted in our representative democracy.
Watch the interview to learn the full extent of Blockwood’s remarkable work and perhaps you’ll become more civically engaged as well.
The Fulcrum Democracy Forum Meets James-Christian Blockwood, Exec. VP,Partnership for Public Servicewww.youtube.com
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.