Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the solemn anniversary memorial at the Pentagon to defend the United States' ongoing war against Iran, drawing a direct line between the 2001 terrorist attacks and the current military campaign. The decision to use the commemoration — which traditionally focuses on honouring the nearly 3,000 victims of the attacks — as a platform for justifying an active conflict drew criticism and underscored the deeply political nature of this year's ceremonies.

Speaking at the Pentagon, which was struck by one of four hijacked airliners on September 11, 2001, killing 64 passengers and crew and 125 people inside the building, Trump paid tribute to victims and veterans of the subsequent "war on terror" before pivoting sharply to the present. "We salute the service members working right now to ensure the world's number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon," he said. Closing his remarks, Trump framed the Iran war as a continuation of a sacred vow made after 9/11. "That's why we fight today. We don't have a choice. There can only be victory," he declared. Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is one of the stated justifications for the conflict, which began earlier this year; Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.

Hegseth, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, delivered what observers described as a bellicose address. He characterised post-9/11 military campaigns as rightful retaliation and presented the Iran war as their logical continuation, describing Iran as "an Islamic theocracy that has wished us death for nearly half a century". He claimed that Iran's air force has been destroyed and its navy sunk, and that the United States has killed senior Iranian leaders — assertions that have been disputed by some independent assessments. He also warned of threats from "Islamic terrorists abroad and at home" and called for a new generation of American warriors.

While Trump remained in Washington, Vice President JD Vance represented the administration at the main Ground Zero ceremony in New York, where the four living former presidents — George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden — gathered. The New York ceremony followed longstanding traditions: a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. local time, marking when the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, followed by the reading of victims' names by family members. New York City's mayor, Zohran Mamdani — the first Muslim to hold that office — also attended. A separate moment of silence honoured those who later died from illnesses linked to the attacks.

The ceremonies were not without dissent. Terry Strada, a widow of one of the 9/11 victims and a spokeswoman for a victims' families group, used the New York gathering to press the Trump administration to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its alleged role in supporting the attackers — a long-running demand that has yet to be met. "It has been one betrayal after another," she said. "President Trump can still change that." The Iran war itself remains deeply unpopular with the American public, according to opinion polls, giving added weight to criticism that Monday's commemorations were used to provide political cover for an ongoing and unresolved conflict.