US President Donald Trump is set to mark the 25th anniversary of the 11 September attacks on Friday by attending a ceremony at the Pentagon honouring nearly 3,000 people killed when Al-Qaeda militants hijacked four aircraft and carried out attacks that reshaped US foreign policy and national security.
It will be the second consecutive year that Trump has commemorated the anniversary at the Pentagon. The New York-born president last attended the Ground Zero ceremony in 2024, reports AP.
Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to join former presidents at the New York observance, while other administration officials will attend the ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Vance had planned to attend last year’s anniversary event in New York but instead travelled to Salt Lake City to be with the family of conservative activist Charlie Kirk after his assassination.
During last year’s Pentagon commemoration, Trump delivered remarks recalling events from the day of the attacks, including excerpts from conversations involving passengers aboard the hijacked planes.
At an event on Tuesday at the Ellipse, near the White House, Trump pledged to “never forget” the victims, saying the 11 September attacks were among the few moments in history that “divide time into really what came before” and after.
The event, organised by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, featured a massive 21-foot steel beam weighing nearly 17,000 pounds that was recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York.
The beam travelled across the country for months as part of the Steel Across America tour and was scheduled to return to New York on Friday for a procession retracing the route taken by fallen New York City firefighter Stephen Siller.
On Wednesday, Trump issued a proclamation declaring Friday as “Patriot Day 2026”. The proclamation recalled the timeline of the 2001 attacks, saying “the peace of our Nation was shattered”, and described his administration as committed to ensuring that the country is protected by “the strongest and most lethal military the world has ever known”.
The Republican National Convention on Thursday night also marked the 25th anniversary of the attacks, with victims’ families appearing on stage in Dallas alongside uniformed firefighters as “Ave Maria” played.
The names of those killed were displayed on a screen, while a bell was rung to honour firefighters who lost their lives.
