9/11 2026 – 25th anniversary

How 9/11 changed the world
25 years on from the terror attacks that killed almost 3,000 people in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania, the dark legacy of September 11 continues to unfold in the US and across the world. A throughline can be drawn from that day in 2001 to much of the geopolitics and conflicts of today.
Annie Kelly speaks to the Guardian’s international security correspondent, Jason Burke, about how 9/11 changed the world (video)

25 Years After 9/11, a Nation Gathers to Remember
Solemn ceremonies at ground zero in New York, and across the United States, mourned the thousands of lives lost. President Trump paid tribute to the victims in a speech at the Pentagon.
(NYT) … at the annual reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa., the passage of time was palpable. Some 9/11 family members reading the names were so young when their parents were killed they said they had no memories of them. Others mourned grandparents, uncles and aunts they never met. At a similar observance at the Pentagon, President Trump spoke of American resilience.
“Sept. 11 reminded us of the terrible power of hate,” Mr. Trump said. “The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail and to win.”
The ceremony in New York got underway, as always, at 8:46 a.m., with a beat of silence honoring the moment when the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Five more silences marked the times when other flights crashed and buildings fell.
But this year, a new, seventh moment of silence was observed at the end of the ceremony, to mourn those who have perished from cancer and other illnesses inflicted by the toxic dust they inhaled in the days and months after the attacks.
The new rite underscored the unending reverberations from that September day: Even as 2001 recedes into the past, deaths from 9/11-related disease are only accelerating and are believed to have outstripped the toll on 9/11 itself.
This week brought a revelation that for many in the city felt like a fresh wound. New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, released over 170,000 pages of reports, records and correspondence that, taken together, leave the impression that the city’s leaders, in their desperation to get Lower Manhattan and Wall Street up and running again, misled New Yorkers about the lingering dangers.
… A new generation: For about 100 million Americans, the attacks are history that happened before they were born, existing as something they’re sure has shaped their lives, but in ways they cannot qualify.
New York’s mayor: Facing Islamophobic attacks and calls for him not to attend the New York memorial, Mr. Mamdani tried to keep the focus on the 9/11 victims.
The view from abroad: Even as they offered condolences to Americans on the 25th anniversary of the attacks, European leaders invoked the trans-Atlantic solidarity that emerged after the tragedy.

Trump commemorates the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon
(AP) — President Donald Trump observed Friday’s 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at a ceremony at the Pentagon by commemorating the lives lost when al-Qaida militants hijacked planes and killed nearly 3,000 people in three locations and upended American foreign policy and national security.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump listened as the names of the 184 people killed at the Pentagon that day were read aloud, a bell tolling between each. In his remarks, Trump recounted the stories of several of the victims and insisted that the moment has led to a fortification of American resolve.
“We will never, ever forget,” Trump said. “That’s why we fight today. We don’t have a choice.”
Earlier, in a downpour at daybreak, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and top military officials stood outside and watched as a giant American flag was unfurled on the building struck by one of those planes a quarter-century ago.
It was the second year in a row that Trump observed the day at the Pentagon. The president, who is originally from New York, last attended the ground zero ceremony there in 2024.
Vice President JD Vance attended the New York observance alongside former presidents, while other administration officials took part in the ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Vance had planned to be in New York for the anniversary last year but instead flew to Salt Lake City to be with the family of Charlie Kirk after the conservative activist was assassinated.
Trump and Hegseth use 9/11 memorial remarks at Pentagon to defend war on Iran
President and defense secretary try to link worst terrorist attack in US history to current unpopular war

Declassified CIA documents show clear warnings to presidents before 9/11
CIA Director John Ratcliffe called the documents, drawn from daily intelligence briefings to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, “the single largest release of CIA analysis related to 9/11 ever.”
By Dan De Luce, Tom Winter and Corky Siemaszko
(NBC) Newly declassified documents show the CIA repeatedly warned Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush that Osama bin Laden was determined to strike at the United States, as far back as three years before the 9/11 attacks.
The high-level warnings lacked definitive information about precisely how or when the attacks might take place. But one intelligence report to the president in September 1998 came tantalizingly close to grasping what might be coming, stating that bin Laden’s supporters “may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city.”
The same memo states that “intelligence provides no conclusive information on bin Ladin’s intentions for future attacks.”

Jean Chrétien says ‘we bow to no one’ in fiery 9/11 speech in Gander, N.L.
‘Never mistake our kindness for softness,’ former PM says
(CBC) Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien drew thunderous applause on Friday during a fiery and patriotic speech in Gander, N.L., where many had gathered at a sports arena to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the legendary humanitarian response as thousands of stranded air travellers had their flights diverted to more than a dozen Canadian airports.
Chrétien was the final speaker during a lengthy and nationally televised event. He began his speech by describing Sept. 11, 2001 “like a nightmare … one that can never be erased.” And then recounted how Canadians stepped up, fought side-by-side with U.S. troops in Afghanistan — which drew loud applause.
A Canadian town that welcomed Americans on 9/11 wrestles with a changing relationship.
… Of the 17 Canadian airports that received stranded travelers, most of them Americans, none became more famous than the airport in Gander, a small town in Newfoundland. Gander, which is the closest North American airport for flights coming from Europe, welcomed 38 planes and their 6,700 passengers — nearly double the town’s population.
Thousands of locals volunteered to host the frightened passengers, many opening their homes to strangers. Gander holds a commemoration each Sept. 11, attended by some of the passengers who were stranded and dignitaries from both sides of the border: the embodiment of the traditionally close relationship between Canada and the United States.
But the 25th commemoration is feeling different this year.
Like Canadians elsewhere, Gander residents are upset over the Trump administration’s hostility toward Canada — launching a trade war, threatening to annex it as the 51st state, and endlessly insulting the country and its leaders.
Gander Welcomed Americans in 2001. Now, U.S.-Canada Tensions Hit Home.
The Newfoundland town welcomed thousands of frightened airline passengers on Sept. 11, but 25 years later, mixed emotions run through anniversary plans amid an escalating trade war.
If any small town ever embodied Canada’s traditionally rock-solid friendship with the United States, Gander was it.
Gander — just inland on the island of Newfoundland — was where generations of U.S. soldiers made their last stop in North America before venturing across the Atlantic to conflicts from World War II to Iran. Where many Canadians and Americans forged friendships and even marriages over the decades.
And where residents took care of thousands of stranded and frightened airline passengers after the Sept. 11 attacks, inspiring the tale of selfless humanity and deep cross-border ties in the hit musical, “Come from Away.”
“We were the best ally they ever had,” said Beulah Cooper, 85, a Gander resident whose real-life bond with Hannah O’Rourke, a New Yorker whose firefighter son was killed in the World Trade Center’s North Tower, forms the musical’s emotional core. She paused, considering current tensions with the United States and added, “It’s — it’s hurtful when you stop and think about it.”
Gander didn’t protest U.S. ambassador during 9/11 visit, but still sent a clear message to Trump
There were no boos when Pete Hoekstra appeared at the 25th anniversary commemoration. Instead, Newfoundlanders kept their focus on the nearly 3,000 lives lost — and reminded America that Canada will not bow to anyone