US President Donald Trump appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open at the Pentagon 9/11 remembrance ceremony18:33, 11 Sep 2026Updated 19:01, 11 Sep 2026Donald Trump has been mocked on social media after he appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open during a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon.‌The US President sat beside First Lady Melania Trump at the ceremony in Arlington, Virginia, marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 al-Qaida attacks.‌Trump, 80, listened as a uniformed member of the US Army read the names of the 184 people killed at the Pentagon that day when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building.‌But viewers watching a livestream of the event said the president appeared "tired" and "sleepy", with some even accusing him of falling asleep.Content cannot be displayed without consentJournalist Aaron Rupar, who has more than 1.1 million followers on X, shared an image of the president on the social media platform. "As is always the case when he's sitting and not talking, Trump had a hard time staying awake during the 9/11 ceremony," he wrote in the caption.‌Sharing a video of Trump with his eyes apparently closed, one user wrote in a widely liked X post: "A Sleepy Donald Trump has decided to take a nap at the Pentagon Ceremony."Videos of Trump appearing to close his eyes have gone viral in the past and prompted sharp denials from the White House, which has pointed to his doctor’s memo released in May that stated he is in "excellent health".In his remarks at the ceremony, Trump recounted the stories of several of the victims and insisted that the moment has led to a fortification of American resolve.‌"We will never, ever forget," he said. "That’s why we fight today. We don’t have a choice."It is the second year in a row for Trump to mark the day at the Pentagon. The President, who is originally from New York, last attended the ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center - referred to as Ground Zero - in 2024.Vice-President JD Vance attended the New York ceremony alongside former presidents, while other administration officials took part in the ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.Article continues belowNearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda militants hijacked four commercial planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, while a fourth plane, Flight 93, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.The US invaded Afghanistan shortly afterwards, launching what then-president George W Bush called the "War on Terror".US-led wars between 2001 and 2023 have directly or indirectly killed an estimated 4.5 to 4.7 million people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Pakistan, according to estimates by the Cost of War project at Brown University's Watson School of International and Public Affairs.