A giant American flag was unfurled at the Pentagon at sunrise on Friday as President Donald Trump led a ceremony marking 25 years since the September 11 attacks, which killed 2,977 people across the United States.
The flag was lowered down the side of the building in heavy rain as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior military leaders gathered outside in Arlington, Virginia.
Trump later attended a memorial service honouring the 184 military personnel and civilians who died when hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon.
The names of those killed were read aloud during the ceremony, with a bell tolling between each one. The observance formed part of a nationwide day of remembrance for those who died in New York, at the Pentagon and aboard Flight 93.
It was the second consecutive year that Trump has marked the anniversary at the Pentagon. The president, who was born in New York, last attended the ceremony at Ground Zero in 2024.
In a proclamation issued on Wednesday, Trump designated Friday as Patriot Day 2026 and called on government departments and agencies to display the US flag at half-mast in memory of the victims.
The White House said the attacks had claimed 2,977 lives, including those killed when Flight 77 struck the Pentagon at 9.37am on September 11, 2001.
Earlier this week, Trump stood alongside first responders, Gold Star families and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation at an event on the Ellipse in Washington, where a 21ft steel beam recovered from the South Tower was displayed.
The 16,900lb beam had travelled through 21 states as part of the Steel Across America memorial tour before the anniversary.
