Pentagon unfurls flag for 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks
Ceremony honored 184 military personnel and civilians killed at the Pentagon.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

September 11: Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise
Photograph: Fox 10 Phoenix (embedded from source)
What this story says
- An American flag was unfurled at sunrise on September 11, 2026, at the Pentagon.
- The ceremony marked the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
- 184 military personnel and civilians were honored for their deaths at the Pentagon.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the flag-unfurling ceremony.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 36 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 4 of the 40 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
77/100
Hype
15/100
40 sources · methodology
Missing from the left
Only 2 of the 36 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.
An American flag was unfurled at sunrise on September 11, 2026, at the Pentagon. The ceremony marked the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. The event honored the 184 military personnel and civilians who were killed at the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was present at the ceremony, alongside military leaders. This was the second consecutive year President Donald Trump marked the anniversary at the Pentagon. Trump, a New York native, had previously attended the ground zero ceremony in 2024.
Disagreement on ceremony details
Fox 10 Phoenix and Fox 9 reported that President Donald Trump led the ceremony. Other reports did not mention President Trump's involvement, focusing instead on the flag unfurling and the number of lives lost at the Pentagon.
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated reports covered this story. None of the right-rated reports mentioned President Donald Trump's attendance or leadership at the Pentagon ceremony.
Coverage settled. We checked this 31 times and stopped on 17 Sept 2026, 02:45. The figures above are what it finished at.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
2 rated outlets
We have not written our reading of the left coverage of this story. The left-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Centre
18 rated outlets
- Centre-rated reports led with the unfurling of a massive American flag at the Pentagon at sunrise on September 11, 2026. These reports stated the ceremony honored the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Eight centre-rated reports mentioned that 184 military personnel and civilians were killed at the Pentagon. Six of these reports noted that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was present. Two centre-rated reports, from Fox 10 Phoenix and Fox 9, specifically mentioned that President Donald Trump led the ceremony and that it was his second year marking the anniversary at the Pentagon. These two reports also noted that the attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in total.
Right
16 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports focused on the unfurling of a massive American flag at the Pentagon to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Ten right-rated reports stated that 184 military personnel and civilians were killed at the Pentagon. None of the right-rated reports mentioned President Donald Trump's presence or leadership at the ceremony. Eight of these reports described the flag as 'massive' and unfurled 'down the side of the Pentagon'. One report from OAN specified the flag's dimensions as 20-by-40 feet.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Pentagon unfurls flag for 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks?
- Of the 36 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 6% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 44% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 40. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Pentagon unfurls flag for 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 36 rated outlets on this story, 6% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 44% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Pentagon unfurls flag for 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks biased?
- Pentagon unfurls flag for 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks is one event reported by 40 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Pentagon unfurls flag for 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Pentagon unfurls flag for 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks?
- 40 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What happened at the Pentagon on September 11, 2026?
- On September 11, 2026, an American flag was unfurled at sunrise at the Pentagon. This ceremony marked the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks and honored the 184 military personnel and civilians who died at the Pentagon.
- Who was honored at the Pentagon ceremony?
- The ceremony honored the 184 military personnel and civilians who were killed at the Pentagon in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Their lives were remembered during the flag-unfurling event.
- Who attended the Pentagon flag-unfurling ceremony?
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was present at the ceremony. Two centre-rated reports also stated that President Donald Trump led the event, marking his second consecutive year attending the anniversary at the Pentagon.
Read it at the source
40 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
2Centre
18- Pentagon 9/11 ceremony honoring 184 killed in 2001 attacks (opens Fort Smith/Fayetteville News in a new tab)
Fort Smith/Fayetteville News — is Fort Smith/Fayetteville News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Pentagon 9/11 ceremony honoring 184 killed in 2001 attacks (opens WBIR in a new tab)
- Pentagon 9/11 ceremony honoring 184 killed in 2001 attacks (opens WFAA 8abc in a new tab)
- Pentagon 9/11 ceremony honoring 184 killed in 2001 attacks (opens KTVB in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens KDBC in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens KFOX in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens KGAN in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens NBC Montana in a new tab)
NBC Montana — is NBC Montana biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 10 more
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens KATU in a new tab)
- Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens WOFL in a new tab)
- Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens Fox 11 LA in a new tab)
- Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens FOX 13 Seattle in a new tab)
FOX 13 Seattle — is FOX 13 Seattle biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens WNYW in a new tab)
- Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens KRIV in a new tab)
- Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens KDFW in a new tab)
- September 11: Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens KTBC in a new tab)
- September 11: Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens Fox 9 in a new tab)
- September 11: Trump marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks at Pentagon; flag unfurled at sunrise (opens Fox 10 Phoenix in a new tab)
Fox 10 Phoenix — is Fox 10 Phoenix biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
16- Van Jones: Trump 'Not In Sync with Where the American People Are' (opens Breitbart in a new tab)
Breitbart — is Breitbart biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- NEWS HEADLINES: Pentagon unfurls massive American flag to honor 9/11 victims – One America News Network (opens U-S-NEWS.COM in a new tab)
U-S-NEWS.COM — is U-S-NEWS.COM biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Flag Unfurls at Pentagon on 25th 9/11 Anniversary (opens Independent Journal Review in a new tab)
Independent Journal Review — is Independent Journal Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
- LIVE NOW: Pentagon Holds 9/11 Flag Unfurling Ceremony (opens The Epoch Times in a new tab)
The Epoch Times — is The Epoch Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens nbc24.com in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens My NBC 15 in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens Fox 17 in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens WEYI in a new tab)
Show 8 more
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens KVAL in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens KFDM in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens KVII in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens WHP in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens WRGB in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens WCTI in a new tab)
- Massive American flag unfurls over Pentagon for 9/11 anniversary (opens ABC 7 WJLA in a new tab)
ABC 7 WJLA — is ABC 7 WJLA biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Pentagon unfurls massive American flag to honor 9/11 victims (opens OAN in a new tab)
Not rated
4- VIDEO America Commemorated 25 Years Since the September 11 Attacks (opens PSnews in a new tab)
- Bells Toll for Victims who Perished at Pentagon on 9/11 (opens Firehouse in a new tab)
- War Department Commemorates 9/11 Anniversary (opens MilitarySpot.com in a new tab)
MilitarySpot.com — is MilitarySpot.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- SEPTEMBER 11 ANNIVERSARY LIVE: Pentagon Flag Unfurling | 25 Years Since 9/11 (opens military-stuff.org in a new tab)
military-stuff.org — is military-stuff.org biased? Our profile of this outlet
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