President Donald Trump marked the 25th anniversary of the 11 September attacks at the Pentagon on Friday, as a vast American flag was unfurled across the building’s western side in memory of the 184 people killed there.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended a ceremony at the Arlington, Virginia, site while the names of those who died were read aloud. A bell tolled after each name as relatives, military personnel and officials paid tribute.
Earlier, in heavy rain at dawn, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior military leaders watched the flag descend over the section of the Pentagon struck by American Airlines Flight 77 in 2001.
In his address, Trump recalled the unity that followed the attacks, when hijacked aircraft were flown into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.
“In those harrowing days after the attacks, we saw the authentic spirit of our nation,” the president said. “We were all New Yorkers that day. Every one of us. We were all New Yorkers. We were all family.”
He also remembered individual victims and concluded: “We will never, ever forget. That’s why we fight today. We don’t have a choice.”
The ceremony was Trump’s second consecutive 9/11 observance at the Pentagon. The New York-born president attended the Ground Zero ceremony in 2024, but Vice-President JD Vance joined former presidents at Friday’s commemoration in Manhattan.
Other administration officials attended a service at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, where 40 passengers and crew members died after attempting to seize control of the aircraft from the hijackers.
The White House had proclaimed 11 September 2026 as Patriot Day and called for US flags to be flown at half-mast in honour of the 2,977 victims of the attacks.
The anniversary has been marked by ceremonies across the United States, including the reading of victims’ names in New York and tributes to the emergency workers and volunteers who responded to the attacks.
