President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended a Sept. 11 observance event Thursday morning at the Pentagon in Virginia.
He commemorated the lives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks.
More than 100 were killed when a plane crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, on Sept. 11, 2001, which was exactly 60 years to the day that ground was broken on the nation’s Defense Department building.
“From that moment forward, this structure stood as a monument to American strength, power and cherished American freedom,” Trump said in remarks at the event. “Exactly six decades later on Sept. 11, 2001, those same walls built with the sweat and muscle, blood of our parents and grandparents were scarred by flame and shaken by terror as our country came face to face with pure evil on that fateful day.”
Trump noted that at the Pentagon, in New York and in the skies above Pennsylvania, “Americans did not hesitate.”
“They stood on their feet, and they showed the world that we will never yield, we will never bend, we will never give up, and our great American flag will never fail,” he said.
Trump said he and the first lady unite with the families of the victims who lost loved ones 24 years ago and will renew the vow that they will never forget what happened.
The president shared stories of individuals who were lost during the attack and their last actions. He highlighted the work done by law enforcement, first responders and military service members in the aftermath of the attacks.
Trump said the U.S. response in the years after the attack sent an “unmistakable message” to enemies around the world that the U.S. would hunt down attackers and “crush you without mercy and triumph without question.” He said that is why he recently restored the Department of Defense to the original name, the Department of War.
The president said on the anniversary that the country will remember the “best and bravest” and their final moments.
“We will defend the nation they served, the values they upheld, and the freedom for which they died,” Trump said. “We will support our troops. We will protect our families and we will preserve the American way of life for every future generation.”
“We will build taller, grow stronger, fight harder and soar higher, and together, we will go forward as one people with one heart, one fate, one flag and one glorious destiny under Almighty God,” he continued.
Trump will be traveling Thursday afternoon to New York City to attend the Yankees game. There will be a pregame ceremony to recognize the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The anniversary comes as reports emerge that the Trump administration said it was exploring if the federal government can take control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood. The White House confirmed to The Associated Press the administration had preliminary discussions about the idea but did not elaborate.
Trump noted in his remarks earlier Thursday that he would be giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed at an event Wednesday in Utah.
Vice President JD Vance changed his schedule and did not go to a Sept. 11 event on Thursday and instead flew to Utah and will be transporting Kirk’s body back to Arizona aboard Air Force Two.
