The 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks arrived on Friday, and US presidents past and present gathered to mark the occasion. President Donald Trump led a ceremony at the Pentagon, while US Vice-President JD Vance attended a memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York alongside all four living former US presidents and their wives.
To honor the victims, there were pauses of quiet at the times when the attacks took place, and the names of close to 3,000 individuals who lost their lives were called aloud.
The Pentagon and Trump’s Speech
At the Pentagon, Trump addressed cabinet secretaries and Condoleezza Rice, who held the post of US secretary of state from 9 to 11.
“Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago,” he said. “We will never, ever forget. That’s why we fight today.”
He linked the “war on terror” that followed 9/11, which sparked years of US involvement in Middle East wars, with his current conflict in Iran.
Trump told the crowd that the Islamic Republic “will never, ever have a nuclear weapon.”
George W Bush and the Four Presidents Together
The ceremony in Manhattan on Friday drew a string of former presidents together, with George W Bush, who held office during the attacks, joined by Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Since 9/11, four men have served as president, and all four, along with their wives, were present at the gathering where they read aloud the names of those who had died.
A Widow’s Demand for Justice
At the event, a woman who had lost her husband directed her comments at Saudi Arabia, taking issue with what she called failures on the part of US officials to hold the kingdom accountable.
“You are missed more with each year that passes,” Terry Strada said of her husband Tom Strada in remarks broadcast live worldwide. “But how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?”
As national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, Strada’s remarks were met with applause from the audience.
The majority of those who carried out the 9/11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia and planning was led by al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin-Laden, scion of a prominent Saudi family.
The kingdom has consistently rejected any responsibility for the strikes, and a major international investigation ultimately concluded that the country was not involved. In 2004, the 9/11 Commission Report cleared Saudi Arabia of any role in the attacks.
Bells, Silence and the Health Toll
On 11 September, bells ring annually to signal the precise moments when each of the four planes went down and the Twin Towers collapsed.
After each of the six bells rings, there comes a pause.
The seventh bell was rung this year to honor those who died from illnesses such as cancer following the attacks.
More than three times the number of people who died during the attacks have since lost their lives due to illnesses linked to dust and smoke from the towers’ collapse, according to US health officials — a toll that has surpassed the nearly 3,000 lives lost on that day.
Events Around the World
In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, ceremonies took place at the site where Flight 93 came down after its passengers resisted the hijackers.
The US ambassador Warren Stephens joined Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband at Buckingham Palace for an official ceremony in London.
The exchange in Toronto held a gathering to honor staff members who were killed in the attacks.
In Gander, Newfoundland, the US ambassador to Canada praised the small town that took in thousands of passengers from 38 diverted planes in the hours after the attack.
“When people in America hear the word Gander, our hearts soften,” Pete Hoekstra said. “As a representative of the United States government, thank you for your friendship… to the nation of Canada, thank you for being a partner and for the shared sacrifices that you made with us.”
Before the 9/11 commemorations, some Gander residents pushed to cancel Hoekstra’s invitation, arguing it was not appropriate given the strained relationship between the US and Canada. The two nations are currently locked in a trade war.
Still, Hoekstra’s speech was met with applause.
A ceremony was held in Milan where Italian and US firefighters climbed stairs together to pay tribute to the emergency workers who gave their lives while on duty.
Dressed in their uniforms and carrying equipment, they climbed 110 floors up and down the Galfa Tower, in remembrance of the number of storeys on each of the Twin Towers.
A Decade of Commemoration
| Anniversary | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 25th | 11 September 2026 | Pentagon, Ground Zero, Shanksville |
| 20th | 11 September 2021 | Ground Zero |
Presidents have marked the attacks with public remembrance through ceremonies, a practice that continues, while the tone of the speeches has changed with the political moment.
Across the globe, dignitaries are assembling to mark the solemn anniversary of the dead, even as a widow presses her demand for justice, a reminder of grief that remains unresolved.
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