TALKLIFE NEWS | September 8, 2026
As the United States approaches the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests Americans’ perception of terrorism and public safety has changed significantly.
In the survey, 33% of respondents identified domestic terrorism as the greatest terrorism-related threat facing the United States, compared with 20% who selected foreign terrorism. When respondents were asked about a broader group of safety threats, 42% chose random violence such as mass shootings.
A generation after September 11
The September 11, 2001 attacks fundamentally changed American security policy, air travel, intelligence operations and U.S. foreign policy. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.
Twenty-five years later, foreign terrorism remains a national-security concern, but Americans have also lived through mass shootings, politically motivated violence and extremist threats originating inside the country.
What the numbers do and do not tell us
Polls measure public perception, not the statistical probability that an individual will experience a particular kind of violence. But perceptions matter because they influence elections, public policy and the way communities think about security.
The TalkLife conversation
September 11 deserves remembrance without turning tragedy into partisan ammunition. It is also an opportunity to ask how the definition of national security has evolved over the last quarter-century.
TalkLife Question: Twenty-five years after 9/11, what makes you feel less safe today: threats from abroad, political violence at home, mass shootings, cyberattacks or something else?
Source: Reuters/Ipsos polling and Reuters reporting, September 8, 2026.