Trump to commemorate 25th anniversary of September 11 attacks at Pentagon

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials watch as the US flag is unfurled at the Pentagon on Friday (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

US President Donald Trump is to observe Friday’s 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by attending a ceremony at the Pentagon, which will commemorate the lives lost when al Qaida militants hijacked planes and killed nearly 3,000 people in three locations, upending American foreign policy and national security.

It will be the second year in a row that Mr Trump has marked the day at the Pentagon. The president, who is originally from New York, last attended the ground zero ceremony there in 2024.

Vice president JD Vance will attend the New York observance alongside former presidents, and other administration officials will go to the ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Mr Vance had planned to be in New York for the anniversary last year but instead flew to Salt Lake City to be with the family of Charlie Kirk after the conservative activist was assassinated.

During last year’s commemoration at the Pentagon, Mr Trump recounted moments from the day of the attacks, including snippets of conversations from passengers who were aboard the hijacked airplanes.

At an event on Tuesday at the Ellipse just outside the White House, Mr Trump vowed to “never forget” victims, noting that the attacks were one of few moments in history that “divide time into really what came before” and after.

That event, spearheaded by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, showcased a 21ft, nearly 17,000lb steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York.

Travelling for months across the country as part of the Steel Across America tour, the beam was to be in New York for a procession on Friday retracing the steps of the late New York City firefighter Stephen Siller.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump issued a proclamation that marked Friday as “Patriot Day 2026”, recounting the chronology of the day in 2001 on which “the peace of our nation was shattered” and describing his administration as “unwavering in its commitment to ensure that our nation is defended by the strongest and most lethal military the world has ever known”.