Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise
Trump's Pentagon remarks recall American unity following 9/11 attacks
President Trump opened his remarks at the Pentagon by recalling the unity Americans showed after the 9/11 attacks, saying we saw "the authentic spirit of our nation" in the days that followed. "We were all New Yorkers that day. Every one of us. We were all New Yorkers. We were all family," he said at the Pentagon ceremony.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks Friday at a Pentagon ceremony honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijackers crashed planes into three sites across the country.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump sat on stage as the names of the 184 people killed at the Pentagon were read aloud, a bell tolling after each.
Earlier, in a downpour at sunrise, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military leaders watched as a giant American flag was unfurled over the side of the building hit by one of the hijacked planes 25 years ago.
September 11: Pentagon flag unfurled marking 25 years since 9/11 attacks
An American flag was unfurled at sunrise Friday at the Pentagon as Americans mark 25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
WATCH: 9/11 remembrance ceremony, annual reading of names
It was Trump’s second straight year marking the anniversary at the Pentagon. The president, a New York native, last attended the ground zero ceremony in 2024.
Vice President JD Vance is attending the New York observance alongside former presidents, while other administration officials are participating in the ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Vance had planned to be in New York for last year’s anniversary but instead traveled to Salt Lake City to be with the family of conservative activist Charlie Kirk after he was assassinated.
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September 11: Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon
An American flag was unfurled at sunrise Friday at the Pentagon as President Donald Trump led a ceremony marking 25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
At an event Tuesday on the Ellipse outside the White House, Trump vowed to "never forget" the victims, calling the Sept. 11 attacks one of the rare moments in history that "divide time into really what came before" and after.
The event, organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, featured a 21‑foot, nearly 17,000‑pound steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The beam has traveled for months across the country as part of the Steel Across America tour and was scheduled to be in New York on Friday for a procession retracing the steps of fallen New York City firefighter Stephen Siller.
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On Wednesday, Trump issued a proclamation designating Friday as "Patriot Day 2026," recounting the events of the 2001 attacks and pledging that his administration remains "unwavering in its commitment to ensure that our Nation is defended by the strongest and most lethal military the world has ever known."
The Republican midterms convention in Dallas on Thursday night also marked the anniversary, with families onstage and firefighters in uniform as "Ave Maria" played. The names of the victims appeared on a screen, and a bell tolled in honor of the firefighters killed.
FOX 5 is making available its FOX 5 DC Archive featuring footage and coverage from Sept. 11, 2001.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting.