The United States on Friday observed the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed 2,977 people at the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Remembrance ceremonies were held at all three sites, drawing victims' families, first responders, elected officials and former heads of state.

President Donald Trump attended the Pentagon ceremony, marking his second consecutive year observing the anniversary at that site after attending the Ground Zero ceremony in 2024. Vice President JD Vance represented the administration in New York, joining four former presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Ground Zero ceremony. Other administration officials traveled to Shanksville for that site's observance.

At the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in lower Manhattan, organizers introduced a seventh moment of silence this year, added to the traditional six that mark the sequence of attacks. The new moment honors those who have died from illnesses and injuries connected to the attacks — a toll that now exceeds 9,000 and surpasses the number killed on the day itself. Museum CEO Beth Hillman noted that the 25-year milestone is a reminder that many Americans have no personal memory of the attacks, underscoring the importance of continued commemoration.

Personal accounts of the day continued to surface as the anniversary approached. Robert Schnelle, the first NYPD K-9 officer on the scene, recalled sheltering with his rescue dog Atlas as the South Tower collapsed, then working 12-hour shifts at Ground Zero for eight months. Firefighter Stephen Siller, who died in the attacks after running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in full gear to reach the towers, was honored through a procession Friday retracing his final route, organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Earlier in the week, a 21-foot steel beam recovered from the South Tower was displayed at the Ellipse near the White House as part of a national tour. Trump on Wednesday issued a proclamation designating Friday as Patriot Day 2026.