(LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump made a short trip from the White House to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attack, and LifeSiteNews was on the ground there to report on his speech and the events of the day.
On September 11, 2001, a hijacked jet crashed at the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., shortly after two planes slammed into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City and another plane controlled by terrorists crashed in a field in southwestern Pennsylvania. The death toll at the World Trade Center was 2,573 while 33 passengers died who fought the attackers on United Airlines Flight 93 over Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At the Pentagon, 184 people were killed, including 125 civilians. Fifty-nine of those were on board the aircraft.
Each of the 184 victims’ names who died at the Pentagon were read aloud. Earlier Friday morning, an American flag was unfurled that had been flown over the building’s west wall on the day after the 2001 attack.
President Trump marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by delivering a speech at the Pentagon memorial service. LifeSite’s @WadeSearle_ is on the ground.
Never Forget. pic.twitter.com/10rbbXzt0s
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) September 11, 2026
“Today, we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago: We will never, ever forget,” Trump said during the ceremony in the Pentagon courtyard at which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also addressed the crowd. Others in attendance at the Pentagon included First Lady Melania Trump, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser during 9/11.
“A generation has passed since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, yet time has not dimmed the honor of that day when our country came face to face with true evil,” he said.
The president typically travels to Ground Zero in New York City to mark the anniversary of the tragedy, but President Trump chose to come to the Pentagon while Vice President JD Vance and other former presidents joined a ceremony in New York City with family members of those who lost loved ones, firefighters, police officers and other heroes and dignitaries. In an 18-minute speech, Trump shared stories from some of the individuals who lost their lives on 9/11.
“As Scripture tells us, the light shines the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,” Trump said. “September 11 reminded us of the terrible power of hate. The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure, to prevail and to win. And today our country is stronger than it has ever been before.”
Hegseth paid tribute to those who have served the country and all who are currently serving, saying that, fortified by strong faith, the U.S. military will continue to protect the country “just as the heroes and warriors of 9/11 did. Because, in this nation — in God we trust — in this land, in this place, on (9/11) and still today.”
This story was updated.