Trump marks 25th anniversary of 9/11, calls attacks a turning point
Donald Trump led a Pentagon ceremony for the 25th anniversary of 9/11, honoring victims and calling the attacks a defining moment in history.
Key Takeaways
AIUS President Donald Trump commemorated the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday at a ceremony held at the Pentagon, attended by First Lady Melania Trump. The event began with the reading of the names of the 184 people who lost their lives in the 2001 attack on the building.
The vice president took part in a remembrance ceremony in New York City alongside former presidents, while other US administration officials attended a memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
At the Pentagon, Defense official Pete Hegseth and several senior military officials stood in the rain as a large American flag was raised over the building, which was struck by one of the hijacked planes 25 years ago.
This marks the second consecutive year Trump has led the 9/11 commemoration at the Pentagon. He last participated in a ceremony honoring World Trade Center victims there in 2023.
The United States marked the anniversary of the attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda militants, who hijacked planes and targeted three sites, killing nearly 3,000 people.
At an event held Tuesday on the Ellipse outside the White House, Trump pledged to "never forget" the victims, describing September 11 as one of the rare moments in history that "divides time into before and after."
The ceremony featured a massive steel beam, 21 feet long and weighing about 17,000 pounds, recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York.