President Trump Attends Pentagon 9/11 Ceremony, Vows to Never Forget

President Donald Trump led a ceremony at the Pentagon on September 11, 2026, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Vice President JD Vance attended a separate memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York, joined by former Presidents George W. Bush, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, along with their first ladies. At the Pentagon, President Trump was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Condoleezza Rice, who was national security adviser on 9/11.

During his remarks, President Trump stated, "Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago. We will never, ever forget. Moments of silence were observed to mark the timings of the attacks, and the names of the victims were read aloud at both memorial sites. At the Pentagon, an American flag flown over the building's west wall on September 12, 2001, was unfurled. President Trump also recounted the story of New York City Fire Department Captain Timothy Stackpole, who died after entering the South Tower. Some relatives of 9/11 victims expressed criticism of President Trump's absence from the New York event, with some calling him our last hope" for justice.

New York City's first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, was present at the New York ceremony. President Trump had previously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Welles Crowther, known as the man in the red bandana, earlier in the week.