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On September 11, U.S. leaders remember : 2025-06-13

Last Updated: 2025-06-13

Michael Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, left, honored 9/11 victims in a ceremony with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Laredo, Texas. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

On September 11, the U.S. Department of State joined Americans nationwide in commemorating the 9/11 terrorist attacks, honoring those killed and paying tribute to the heroes who displayed great courage 24 years ago.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon near Washington and in a field in western Pennsylvania. Their names were read aloud during ceremonies at the three hallowed sites.

Michael Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s office in Laredo, Texas, a gathering to remember the American lives taken and to honor Americans’ resilience after the attacks.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Americans remember where they were on the day that forever changed the nation. They also remember acts of heroism and the “incredible American spirit, a sense of unity that reigned in our country.”

Outside the State Department building in Washington, employees shared a moment of silence in honor of the 9/11 victims. “Let’s try to draw from that terrible tragedy some of the lessons of determination, resilience, and unity that came out of those terrible events,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said during the ceremony that also honored the four Americans killed in the attack on U.S. offices in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend a 9/11 observance at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, September 11. (© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Speaking at the Pentagon, President Trump spoke of “the weight of missed birthdays … and dreams left unfulfilled” that victims’ families still feel and also noted that “out of the wreckage, we watched unbelievable courage suddenly take form.”

“Out of the darkness, we saw the timeless truth of American character shine for the world to see,” the president said.