Watch live: Trump commemorates 25 years since 9/11 at Pentagon

Twenty-five years is both a lifetime and a blink of an eye. For those who watched the towers fall, the smoke rising from the Pentagon, and the field in Shanksville, the images remain seared into memory. For a generation born after 2001, however, September 11 is not memory but history—something studied in classrooms rather than experienced in the gut. That generational shift is one of the quiet subtexts of this anniversary, and it raises a question both sides might ponder: how do we keep the lessons of that day alive without letting them calcify into ritual? The presence of a former president at the Pentagon commemoration is, on its surface, a nonpartisan act. Yet in an era where nearly every public appearance is filtered through a political lens, even a solemn ceremony becomes part of the broader discourse. Some will see Trump's attendance as fitting—a leader who was in New York on that day, visiting ground zero alongside firefighters and first responders. Others will note the absence of other political figures or the timing of the visit and read it through the prism of the current campaign season. Both readings are possible, and neither is entirely wrong. What is worth holding onto is the core fact: 2,977 people died, and 184 of them perished at the very institution Trump will visit. The Pentagon is not just a symbol of American military power; it is also a memorial site, a place where ordinary people—civilian and military alike—went to work on a Tuesday morning and never came home. The ceremony is for them, regardless of who stands at the podium. Ultimately, the 25th anniversary invites us to consider how a nation mourns while it moves forward. The wars that followed 9/11 have ended, the security apparatus has transformed, and the political landscape has shifted dramatically. Yet the day itself remains a rare point of collective reference—one where Americans of all stripes can agree on the gravity of what was lost. Whether that agreement can be sustained in the years ahead is an open question, but for one morning at least, the focus will be on the names, not the noise. Source: <a href="https://thehill.com/video-clips/6083859-watch-live-donald-trump-pentagon-september-11-attacks-25th-anniversary/">The Hill</a>