ARLINGTON, September 16 — President Donald Trump is scheduled to commemorate the victims of the September 11 attacks at the Pentagon, the building that American Airlines Flight 77 struck on the morning of September 11, 2001. The observance in Arlington, Virginia, is one of the central events marking the quarter-century since the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil. The attacks were carried out by hijackers affiliated with al-Qaeda, who seized control of four commercial airliners that morning.
Two aircraft — American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 — struck the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon.
The fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew attempted to retake the cockpit. The attacks killed 2,977 people, excluding the 19 hijackers, and injured more than 6,000 others. The death toll includes 2,753 victims at the World Trade Center, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania.
Among the Pentagon victims were 125 people working in the building and 59 passengers and crew aboard Flight 77.
The building and the memorial
The Pentagon, headquarters of the US Department of Defense, sits in Arlington County, Virginia, directly across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. The impact of Flight 77 struck the western side of the building, and the subsequent fire and collapse caused significant damage to the structure. The Pentagon Memorial, located adjacent to the crash site, was dedicated on September 11, 2008, and honors the 184 victims.
It consists of 184 illuminated benches, each engraved with the name of a victim, arranged by age from the youngest, three-year-old Dana Falkenberg, to the oldest, 71-year-old John D. Yamnicky.
A quarter-century of observance
In the years since the attacks, the anniversary has been observed annually with ceremonies at the Pentagon, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. The 25th anniversary in 2025 marks a quarter-century since the attacks and is expected to draw heightened attention. Trump’s participation at the Pentagon ceremony continues a tradition of US presidents attending memorial events at the site.
Previous presidents, including George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, have taken part in such commemorations.
The anniversary also occurs amid ongoing debates over national security, the legacy of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed the attacks, and the health effects on first responders and survivors. The Pentagon ceremony is expected to include a moment of silence, the reading of victims’ names, and remarks by the president. The event is closed to the general public, with attendance by invitation only for families of victims and dignitaries.
Travel to the Washington, DC, area for the anniversary may be affected by heightened security measures, including road closures and flight restrictions around the Pentagon and other memorial sites.
