The United States commemorated the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks this Friday with simultaneous ceremonies in New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The White House summarized the significance of the day in a message posted on its official account on X: "It has been a quarter of a century since September 11, 2001, when the peace of our nation was shattered by terrorists."
The statement recalled the 2,977 lives lost in the attacks and emphasized the duty to preserve that memory: "We must ensure that the memory of 9/11 never fades away, but rather passes from one generation of Americans to the next. We will never forget."
The president Donald Trump chose the Pentagon to deliver a speech, since the Ground Zero ceremony has prohibited political interventions for years.
At the Pentagon, General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set the tone for the day: "Today is not just a story of loss. It is also a story of great American valor, selfless service, and of those who have chosen to keep those memories alive."
Former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice provided a personal account of her visit to the building the day after the attacks: "As I exited the highway, I could see the gash in the building and the thick air, still heavy with smoke. When I returned to my apartment, I noticed that my clothes had a strange odor. It was the smell of smoke and the residue of soot from the Pentagon. For me, it was a moment of profound sadness."
The four living former presidents - Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden - attended the memorial in New York, where Vice President J. D. Vance represented the administration.
In Ground Zero, the reading of the 2,983 names of the victims was marked by an unusual political moment. Terry Strada, the widow of Tom Strada—an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald who died in the towers—interrupted the reading to question the president: "How is it possible that 25 years have passed and we still do not have justice for the role Saudi Arabia played in your assassination?"
Strada, president of 9/11 Families United, demanded that Trump pressure the Saudi government: “President Trump can still change that. Tell the Saudis to stop lying.”
The nephew of another victim joined the plea: "President Trump, you are our last hope. Publish the uncensored files implicating Saudi Arabia while the surviving family members are still alive to see it." Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens; Saudi Arabia has systematically denied any involvement.
This anniversary included, for the first time, a seventh minute of silence dedicated to those who have died since 2001 from illnesses related to exposure to the toxic ashes of Ground Zero.
The White House ended the day with a second message on X that included recordings of passengers calling their families from the hijacked planes, accompanied by a reflection: “September 11 is not remembered only for what we lost, but also for what we found: unity, love, courage, and unyielding patriotism.”
Days earlier, the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, released over 170,000 pages of previously confidential documents revealing that the municipal authorities at the time were aware that the air around Ground Zero was hazardous, even while publicly stating the opposite.
In the judicial sphere, weeks before the anniversary, a military judge dismissed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession to the FBI in 2007, concluding that it was not voluntary due to coercion by the CIA, which undermines a key element of the trial in Guantánamo against the alleged organizer of the attacks.
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