'We're being tested today': Trump makes unusual 9/11 declaration at Pentagon

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump turned his 25th-anniversary 9/11 speech toward the present, declaring that America is “being tested today” and “winning that test very handily.”

Trump said the attacks showed the “terrible power of hate,” while the years since demonstrated what he called the greater power of the American spirit.

He made the remarks on Friday, September 11, at the Pentagon, choosing the site over Ground Zero, where politicians have not been permitted to speak at the ceremony since 2012.

Trump says America is being tested today

Trump framed the anniversary not only as a remembrance of the 2001 attacks but as a moment to assess America’s strength in the present.

“25 years after the attacks, we know the world will never return to the way it was,” Trump said. “We’ve been tested many times. We’re being tested today, and we’re winning that test very handily.”

He said Americans must be “strong” and “smart,” describing the country’s response to 9/11 as evidence of an enduring national spirit.

Trump also connected that present-day test to the military, saying American service members had spent the generation since 9/11 fighting t*******m so future generations could experience “carefree days and cloudless skies.”

He praised military personnel who served in the war on t****r, first responders and law enforcement, before turning to Iran.

“And we salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of t****r, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

President Trump recalls the Pentagon attack

Trump used the Pentagon ceremony to recount the lives lost when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building at 9.37 am on September 11, 2001.

He said 2,977 people were killed in the attacks and remembered victims and families while renewing what he called the country’s “sacred oath” to never forget.

The president also recalled acts of resistance aboard Flight 93, including Todd Beamer, who joined a telephone operator in prayer before saying, “Let’s roll.”

He said the response after the attacks showed Americans were “all New Yorkers,” “all Americans,” “all family” and “all patriots.”

At the Pentagon, Trump highlighted a large American flag that was hung on the building on September 12, 2001, after first responders raised it near the damage caused by Flight 77.

He said the same flag was present at Friday’s ceremony for the first time since 2001, alongside three firefighters who helped raise it.

Trump honors 9/11 families and first responders

Trump also focused on the Stackpole family, whose patriarch, New York City firefighter Timmy Stackpole, died after responding to the World Trade Center attacks.

Trump described Stackpole as a firefighter who had survived severe injuries from a 1998 fire and returned to the job after three years of recovery.

His wife, Tara, later raised their five children, several of whom went on to serve in the military or become firefighters.

Trump said the family represented the kind of legacy he believed emerged from the attacks.

“We can raise our children to know that their country is good, that their fathers are brave, and that our flag is a symbol of justice and freedom,” he said.

Trump closed by saying the 25 years since 9/11 had shown the American spirit’s ability “to endure and prevail and to win.”

“Today, our country is stronger than it has ever been before,” Trump said. “It has never been as strong as it is right now.”