America Marks 25 Years Since 9/11 That Killed Nearly 3,000 People With Trump Leading Tributes

The United States marked 25 years since the September 11, 2001 attacks on Thursday, September 11, 2026, with memorial ceremonies underway at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon, to honour the nearly 3,000 lives lost.

President Donald Trump led the ceremony at the Pentagon, where 184 lives were lost. In his remarks, he paid tribute to the thousands of “beautiful souls ripped from our world” on 9/11, vowing “We will never, ever forget.” He also recalled the heroism of passengers aboard United Flight 93, paraphrasing Todd Beamer’s famous words, “Let’s roll.”

Trump also used the Pentagon address to nod to current conflicts, framing the war with Iran as an extension of the U.S. response to 9/11. He declared, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will never, ever have a nuclear weapon,” drawing applause from the crowd.

At Ground Zero in New York, all living former presidents gathered as victims’ names were read. This year’s ceremony included a special moment of silence for those who have died of illnesses linked to the aftermath of the attacks

Among former leaders paying tribute, former Vice President Kamala Harris shared a message on social media, stating that “25 years have passed” but “our responsibility to remember has not changed,” and honouring those who “went to work that morning and never came home.”

Former National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who served under President George W. Bush during the attacks, also spoke at the Pentagon. She expressed “deep personal remorse,” saying those in authority “did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack” and that while they “did what we knew to do, by definition, it was not enough.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking alongside Trump at the Pentagon, described 9/11 as “one of the darkest days in American history,” but added that “evil did not get the last word,” declaring that “25 years later, America is stronger than ever before.”

The ceremonies were marked by emotional moments, including a direct appeal to Trump from family members reading victims’ names at Ground Zero. One reader called on President Trump to release the un-redacted 9/11 files, saying “you’re our last hope” to reveal the truth about what happened while families are still alive.

Coverage of the anniversary also highlighted the broader legacy of 9/11, noting the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2004 to fix intelligence failures, and the continued national debate over its future as new threats emerge.

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