Trump Marks 25th Anniversary of 9/11 at Pentagon

President Donald Trump attended a ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The event commemorated the nearly 3,000 people killed when al‑Qaida hijacked planes and struck the Pentagon, the World Trade Center, and the United States Capitol. Trump and First Lady Melania listened as the names of the 184 Pentagon victims were read aloud. Earlier that morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior military officials stood outside the building in a downpour as a large American flag was unfurled over the site of the 2001 attack.

This is the second consecutive year that Trump has observed the anniversary at the Pentagon. The former president, originally from New York, also attended the ground‑zero ceremony in 2024. Vice President J.D. Vance joined former presidents at the New York observance, while other administration officials were present at the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, ceremony. Vance had intended to attend the New York event last year but instead flew to Salt Lake City to support the family of conservative activist Charlie Kirk after Kirk was assassinated.

A Tuesday event held at the Ellipse just outside the White House saw Trump pledge to ‘never forget’ the victims and noted that the attacks had split history into a clear before and after. The gathering, organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, featured a 21‑foot, 17,000‑pound steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The beam had traveled across the country as part of the Steel Across America tour and was displayed in New York for a procession that retraced the route of fallen firefighter Stephen Siller.

On Wednesday, Trump issued a proclamation designating Friday as ‘Patriot Day 2026,’ recalling the day that ‘the peace of our nation was shattered’ and affirming his administration’s commitment to maintaining the world’s strongest military. The Republican midterms convention on Thursday night in Dallas also observed the anniversary, with families and firefighters onstage, the song ‘Ave Maria’ playing, and a bell rung to honor the fallen.