9/11 anniversary live updates: Memorial ceremonies planned at Ground Zero, Trump to visit Pentagon

All four living former U.S. presidents will be at Ground Zero today to honor the lives lost on 9/11 and to remember the tragedy that struck the country 25 years ago. Vice President J.D. Vance will also be at Ground Zero, and President Trump will be marking the anniversary in Washington at the Pentagon.

Nearly 3,000 victims will be remembered today. Also to be honored are those who have died since 9/11 after inhaling the toxic debris at Ground Zero that day. More than 9,000 deaths due to cancer and respiratory disease are linked to 9/11.

03:07

Events at the Pentagon today began at sunrise, with the unrolling of an American flag on the side of the building — just like when the building was attacked 25 years ago.

A series of tributes is expected, including a moment of silence at 9:37 a.m., which is the moment the Pentagon was struck a quarter-century ago. The names of the 9/11 victims will also be read.

President Trump is also expected to speak at the event.

Series of Tributes Underway at Pentagon to Mark 9/11 Anniversary

01:38

First Lady Melania Trump shared a message to honor those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001.

"To those who lost loved ones, dreams, and hope on September 11, I know today marks only one day in an immeasurable void," she wrote on X. "September 11 froze time and left profound grief. Yet the depth of your loss speaks to the depth of the love that came before it."

The First Lady added: "May you find light in the love you shared—and strength in the memories that time can never take away."

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called 9/11 a day of "immeasurable loss," and spoke of the "universes gone in an instant," referring to the dead. In a video address posted online, he urged New Yorkers to "build a city worthy of their courage."

Mamdani praised those who, after the tragedy, rushed to save lives, donated blood, and opened their homes to strangers. "We have a sacred obligation to those who were stolen from us to care for one another," he added.

01:45

Dr. Gordon Huie is the only recorded “triple survivor” of 9/11 — losing his sister after barely making it out of the World Trade Center himself. Huie speaks with NBC News to recount that harrowing day, not only as a survivor but also as a doctor treating patients at Ground Zero.

French President Emmanuel Macron said September 11, 2001, "remains etched in the world’s memory," as he shared his country's condolences on Friday.

"We do not forget the lives cut short, nor the courage of those who risked everything to bring aid," he wrote in a post on X. "To the victims, the families, the American people, I express France’s tribute and its brotherhood."

Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham offered his condolences on Friday, noting that "time may pass, but I know the grief is still felt just as deeply today."

He also paid his respects to the 67 Britons killed, stating that "terror still knocks on the door of democracy, but the United Kingdom and the United States stand together in memory of those we lost, and in defense of the values we cherish."

02:54

Twenty-five years after losing their father — FDNY firefighter Frank Palombo — on 9/11, the Palombo family reflects on grief, community support and a legacy carried forward.

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum commemoration at Ground Zero in New York this morning will center on the victims of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. During the ceremony, the names of all 2,983 fallen will all be read by family members of victims.

Each year since 2001, six moments of silence were observed at the times each of the World Trade Center towers was struck and fell, the times corresponding to the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93. This year, a seventh moment of silence will honor the thousands of people who have died from 9/11-related illnesses or injuries in the years since the attacks.

While former presidents, members of Congress, current White House officials will attend, political figures are traditionally asked not to make any speeches at the ceremony.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Thursday that the Trump administration isn’t doing enough to monitor and thwart terrorists who still pose a threat to the U.S., 25 years after the 9/11 attacks.

“I worry a lot that we’ve let down our guard on counterterrorism, and I don’t say this to scare anybody or to exaggerate, but I think we are not paying enough attention to resurgent terrorist actions,” Clinton said in an interview with NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell at the VOICES 25th Anniversary Symposium, an event reflecting on the attacks.

Clinton, who was a U.S. senator from New York on 9/11, said that there have been many “close calls” with terrorist plots in the ensuing quarter century and some that succeeded.

“The threat did not go away — it receded — but it is still there, and there are still many thousands of extremists in the world who wish us a great deal of ill,” she said. Clinton argued that the U.S. needs to overcome its internal divisions and confront threats from both nation-state adversaries, like Russia, China and Iran, and nonstate adversaries, like terrorist groups.

For more, read the full story here.

The Pentagon, where 184 people were killed when the defense building was attacked, will stage the first official ceremony of the day with a large American flag being unfurled against the side of the building at 6:46 a.m.

The tradition began when a group of first responders and soldiers unfurled a massive American flag in the same fashion on Sept. 12, 2001.