At Pentagon 9/11 commemoration, Trump, Hegseth say war on terror continues

ARLINGTON, Va. — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks used their remarks to pitch the Iran war as a continuance of the Global War on Terrorism.

“Today, we salute every member of the United States military who served in the war on terror. It is a war on sick, horrible terror,” Trump told the crowd Friday at the Pentagon ceremony. “We salute our first responders and law enforcement and we love them. And we salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon.”

Al-Qaida terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked four commercial jets, flying two of them into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York and a third into the Pentagon. The fourth plane, believed to be bound for Washington, crashed into a Shanksville, Pa., field after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, including 184 at the Pentagon.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine walk toward a stage during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

The 9/11 attacks spurred an extraordinary surge of national unity — a country united across party lines and resolved to respond decisively to the incursion. Within weeks, the U.S. military — backed by NATO allies responding to the first-ever invocation of the alliance’s mutual-defense clause — launched an invasion of Afghanistan to target al-Qaida and the country’s Taliban rulers who had granted the group safe harbor.

Thousands of Americans in the aftermath of the attack flooded military recruiting stations, feeling the call to serve in response to 9/11. Nearly 255,000 Americans enlisted in the year after the attack — the largest recruitment surge in decades.

The Global War on Terrorism would last some two decades, expanding as the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and targeted terrorists operating in countries around the world.

Officers with the Pentagon Force Protection Agency during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

The Pentagon’s annual ceremony got off to a rough start as rain rolled through the area.

In a downpour at daybreak, Hegseth and top military officials stood outside and watched as the giant U.S. flag was unfurled on the building struck by a hijacked plane a quarter-century ago.

The weather cleared up in time for the ceremony at 9 a.m. EST to honor the Pentagon’s fallen. A traditional bell tolled for each victim while their photo appeared on screens in the Pentagon courtyard and their name was read aloud.

The crowd, consisting of families who lost loved ones that day at the Pentagon, listened to speeches about the horrors of the attack and the resolve of the American people.

“We can’t restore what was taken from us that day, but we can make and continue to hold a solemn promise, never to forget,” said Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “May we always serve and live in a manner worthy of that sacrifice.”

Caine, at the time of the attacks, was a major and an F-16 fighter pilot in the D.C. Air National Guard. He was one of four pilots ordered to shoot down any plane that threatened Washington.

A sailor rings a bell as the names of each of the 184 people who died at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, are read aloud during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Taps is played during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

A couple bows their heads while a bugler plays taps during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Trump and Hegseth acknowledged the national unity born in the aftermath of the attacks.

“Warriors and civilians alike, they stared death in the eye and they did not blink,” Hegseth said. “September 11, 2001, was one of the darkest days in American history. But evil did not get the last word.”

The secretary also touted the damage inflicted on Iran this year, saying the U.S. has killed Iranian leaders, destroyed the country’s air force and eliminated its defenses.

“We’re still sending terrorists where they belong, to hell, and tankers to the bottom of the ocean, where they belong,” Hegseth said. “The economic pressure tightens every day. We control the Strait (of Hormuz). We will finish this fight.”

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and more than 800 have been wounded, according to the latest Pentagon statistics, since the conflict began on Feb. 28.

The Trump administration has backed away from the negotiating table and instead chosen to squeeze Iran’s economy.

The U.S. says it is working to ensure freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz. About 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade normally passes through the waterway, according to the International Energy Agency.

Traffic disruption in the Strait has driven up oil prices: The national price per gallon of gas in the U.S. on Friday was about $4.30, according to the AAA Gas Prices website.

Trump said the nation has been tested many times and is currently being tested today but “we’re winning that test very handily.”

“We will never, ever forget. That’s why we fight today,” the president said. “We don’t have a choice. It can only be victory.”

Stars and Stripes reporter Corey Dickstein contributed to this report.

A spectator holds a program during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)