Jeff Mordock | September 12, 2025
(The Washington Times) — President Trump marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks by issuing a stern warning to America’s enemies that any future attack would be met with uncompromising severity.
“If you attack the United States of America, we will hunt you down. We will crush without mercy, and we will triumph without question,” he said Thursday. “That’s why we named the former Department of Defense the Department of War.”
The president continued, “We won the First World War. We won the Second World War. We won everything before that and in between. And then we decided to change the game.”
Mr. Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended a memorial service at the Pentagon, where 184 service members and civilians were killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military.
Later Thursday, Mr. Trump traveled to the Bronx for a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers.
At the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, a moment of silence marked the exact times when planes struck. Victims’ names were read aloud.
The remembrance of 9/11 comes a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a college in Utah. It has restarted discourse about political violence.
During his remarks, Mr. Trump marked the heroism of first responders and civilians, such as those on the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, who fought back against the terrorists and prevented it from crashing into a more populated area.
“On that fateful day, savage monsters attacked the very symbols of our civilizations. Yet here in Virginia and in New York and in the skies over Pennsylvania, Americans did not hesitate,” Mr. Trump said. “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, ever fail.”
At ground zero in lower Manhattan, the names of victims were read, and moments of silence marked the exact times when planes struck the World Trade Center as well as when the skyscrapers fell.
Vice President J.D. Vance and second lady Usha Vance planned to attend the New York ceremony but instead traveled to Salt Lake City to visit with Mr. Kirk’s family.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins attended the memorial ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. He did not deliver remarks.
