US President Donald Trump has come under renewed scrutiny over his claims about his presence near the World Trade Center following.
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, including his assertion that firefighters carried him away from the danger zone and that he spent days working at Ground Zero.
Trump has repeated versions of these claims over the years, but has provided no documentation to substantiate them. Multiple news organisations and independent fact-checkers have now examined his account.
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft. Two were flown into New York’s World Trade Center, another struck the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the plane.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, while thousands of others later developed illnesses linked to exposure to toxic dust and debris at the sites.
What did Trump claim?
Speaking at an event honouring first responders, Trump said firefighters rescued him from near One Liberty Plaza, a building located directly across from the World Trade Center site.
“Two firemen, big strong guys, they grabbed me under the arms — ‘You’ve got to get out of here!’ — and they literally lifted me up, and they started running with me,” Trump said.
“I’m big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said, ‘Fellas, I can run myself,’ but they were amazing. But they thought it was coming down. It didn’t come down,” he added.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has noted that One Liberty Plaza, formerly known as the US Steel Building, was directly across the street from the World Trade Center complex. During the attacks, there were concerns about the safety of buildings in the area.
News outlets challenge Trump’s account
CNN described Trump’s account as misleading, reporting that he was not at the World Trade Center on September 11 and was not evacuated from a building near Ground Zero that day. The Washington Post similarly described the claim as disputed.
PBS reported that Trump was interviewed near Ground Zero on September 13, two days after the attacks. In those interviews, Trump said he had brought construction workers to assist in the aftermath.
Trump later claimed that he had mobilised around 100 workers from his company and spent considerable time at the site helping and motivating them.
However, independent fact-checking organisation PolitiFact found no evidence supporting some of these claims. It cited Richard Alles, an FDNY battalion chief who was involved in rescue operations at Ground Zero, as saying in 2019 that he had no record of Trump being at the site or sending 100 workers there.
“I spent many months there myself, and I never witnessed him,” Alles was quoted as saying.
Other 9/11 claims also questioned
The New York Times has also challenged several of Trump’s recollections about the attacks, describing some of them as exaggerated or unsupported.
Among the claims examined was Trump’s assertion that he personally watched people jumping from the World Trade Center from Trump Tower. The newspaper noted that Trump Tower is roughly four miles from the World Trade Center site and found no evidence supporting the claim.
Trump has also repeated the debunked assertion that Muslims in New Jersey celebrated as the attacks unfolded.
White House responds to demand for proof
According to CNN, the White House was asked to provide evidence supporting Trump’s account of being carried by firefighters. The administration acknowledged that there was no documentation of the alleged incident.
An unsigned email from the administration was quoted as saying: “He was a private citizen at the time, not everything he did was documented.”
The White House later rejected the media fact-checks, accusing news organisations of using Trump’s remarks to attack him.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump had been speaking about his experiences in New York in the aftermath of the attacks and criticised what he called the “failing legacy media”.
Trump doubles down
Trump subsequently rejected the reports questioning his account, calling the fact-checks “fake news” and “made-up”.
“Well, I don’t think I would be the first thing on anyone’s mind but, I was there, obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter, with a large group of Construction Workers,” Trump said.
“Again, check out the clips of me at the World Trade Center site. I was there as soon as the law allowed,” he added.
Trump also shared videos of interviews from the period to support his account. However, the reports cited by news organisations said the available footage did not establish that the interviews were filmed on September 11 itself.
Trump also accused the media of being “angry” over his political success, saying they were upset that he had won the presidential election three times.
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