OAN Staff Blake Wolf
8:41 AM – Thursday, September 11, 2025
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended a memorial event at the Pentagon on the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Thursday’s scheduled event honoring the victims of the 9/11 attacks took place the day after conservative commentator and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated in broad daylight while at a speaking event taking place at Utah Valley University, in what Utah Governor Spencer Cox is describing as a “political assassination.”
In light of the killing, Vice President JD Vance, along with second lady Usha Vance, will visit Salt Lake City, Utah, to pay respects to Kirk’s family, according to CNN.
Vance was previously scheduled to attend a 9/11 memorial in New York City, but has since shifted his plans in light of Kirk’s murder.
On Wednesday, Vance issued a lengthy X post detailing his friendship with Kirk, recounting how the Turning Point USA founder greatly helped his political career, which led to a sincere friendship.
“He was a great family man. I was talking to President Trump in the Oval Office today, and he said, ‘I know he was a very good friend of yours.’ I nodded silently, and President Trump observed that Charlie really loved his family. The president was right. Charlie was so proud of Erika and the two kids. He was so happy to be a father. And he felt such gratitude for having found a woman of God with whom he could build a family,” Vance wrote.
“Charlie Kirk was a true friend. The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, along with several lawmakers, attended the 9/11 memorial observance at the Pentagon.
During his speech, the president recounted the final phone calls some of the victims made to their loved ones aboard the hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.
“Today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget September 11, 2001,” the president stated.
“Savage monsters attacked the very symbols of our civilization. Yet here in Virginia and in New York and in the skies over 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, ever fail,” Trump continued. “That day, we learned that the American heroic spirit was all around us. We saw it in the police officers, the great firefighters, the service members here at the Pentagon, and in the hearts of every American who answered history’s call.”
The president also announced that he will be posthumously awarding Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and inspiration to millions and millions of people,” the president stated. “We miss him greatly. I have no doubt Charlie’s voice and courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”
“I am pleased to announce that I will soon be awarding Charlie Kirk, posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” the president added.
Additionally, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also spoke at the memorial service, reflecting on the “savage, evil” attacks on September 11, 2001.
“Like too many Americans, I was naive to the threats brewing abroad and infiltrating our shores, but from that day forward, I felt an unshakable call to action, a duty to defend our sacred homeland with everything I had,” Hegseth stated. “Like all of you, 9/11 was the ultimate validator to serve.”
“War must not become a mere tool for global social work, eager to risk American blood and treasure from utopian fever dreams,” Hegseth continued, reflecting on the lessons learned from the American reaction to 9/11.
“We should hit hard, wreak vengeance and return home. For two decades, our warriors fought with valor, valor every day, far from home, even though sometimes their leaders gave them nation-building missions and half-baked exits. Thankfully, today we have an American military that President Trump has not rebuilt twice.”
A total of 2,977 victims died on 9/11, including all 246 passengers and crew aboard the four planes. A total of 2,606 people were killed in the Twin Towers attack, either at the time or from injuries sustained during the terror attack. Thousands of others were injured.
A total of 125 people were killed as a result of the Pentagon attack, which saw a hijacked plane smash into the western face of the U.S. military’s headquarters.
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