Trump claims firefighters lifted him to safety near ground zero after 9/11: What facts show
President Donald Trump has described a new version of his experience after the September 11 attacks , claiming two firefighters lifted him to safety because they feared a nearby building was about to collapse.
Trump made the claim Tuesday at a White House event honouring first responders ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. He said he had taken workers from a construction project he was overseeing to the area shortly after the attacks.
According to Trump, he was near the "US Steel" building when people feared it could come down. He said two firefighters then grabbed him under the arms and carried him away.
"They grabbed me under the arms, said, 'Gotta get out of here,'" Trump said. "And they literally lifted me up. This is not easy to do. I'm big. They lifted me up and they started running with me."
There is no public evidence establishing that Trump was inside the building he referred to, known today as One Liberty Plaza, when the incident took place.
In an earlier version of the story in 2016, Trump said the firefighters helped him "a couple of days" after the attacks. In a social media post on Tuesday night, he clarified that he was not at the site on September 11 itself but said he was there "shortly thereafter".
Trump's account has also previously been questioned by Richard Alles, a retired New York Fire Department deputy chief who spent months at the World Trade Centre site after the attacks. In 2019, Alles told The New York Times that he had never seen Trump at Ground Zero.
"I spent many months there myself, and I never witnessed him," Alles said. "He was a private citizen at the time. I don't know what kind of role he could have possibly played."
There were, however, documented concerns about the stability of buildings around Ground Zero in the days after the attacks. One Liberty Plaza was evacuated on September 12 after fears that it could collapse, although officials later determined that the building was structurally sound. Rescue workers were also moved away from the area during another alert on September 14.
Trump has previously described being involved in the recovery operation at Ground Zero, including claims that he sent a large group of workers to help. Those accounts have been disputed by people who were involved in the response.
The White House did not provide evidence when asked to substantiate Trump's latest account. In an email to CNN, it said that Trump was a private citizen at the time and that "not everything he did was documented".
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle later accused the media of trying to use Trump's remarks to attack him, saying the president had been describing his experience of New York in the aftermath of the attacks.
Trump later said on Truth Social that "everything I said was exactly accurate".
His latest account comes days before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, when Trump is expected to attend a commemoration at the Pentagon rather than Ground Zero in New York.
Trump also used Tuesday's event to honour the family of Welles Crowther , a volunteer firefighter who died after helping people escape the South Tower. Crowther became known as the "man in the red bandana" because of the red bandana he wore over his face while assisting survivors.
Trump made the claim Tuesday at a White House event honouring first responders ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. He said he had taken workers from a construction project he was overseeing to the area shortly after the attacks.
According to Trump, he was near the "US Steel" building when people feared it could come down. He said two firefighters then grabbed him under the arms and carried him away.
"They grabbed me under the arms, said, 'Gotta get out of here,'" Trump said. "And they literally lifted me up. This is not easy to do. I'm big. They lifted me up and they started running with me."
There is no public evidence establishing that Trump was inside the building he referred to, known today as One Liberty Plaza, when the incident took place.
In an earlier version of the story in 2016, Trump said the firefighters helped him "a couple of days" after the attacks. In a social media post on Tuesday night, he clarified that he was not at the site on September 11 itself but said he was there "shortly thereafter".
Trump's account has also previously been questioned by Richard Alles, a retired New York Fire Department deputy chief who spent months at the World Trade Centre site after the attacks. In 2019, Alles told The New York Times that he had never seen Trump at Ground Zero.
"I spent many months there myself, and I never witnessed him," Alles said. "He was a private citizen at the time. I don't know what kind of role he could have possibly played."
There were, however, documented concerns about the stability of buildings around Ground Zero in the days after the attacks. One Liberty Plaza was evacuated on September 12 after fears that it could collapse, although officials later determined that the building was structurally sound. Rescue workers were also moved away from the area during another alert on September 14.
Trump has previously described being involved in the recovery operation at Ground Zero, including claims that he sent a large group of workers to help. Those accounts have been disputed by people who were involved in the response.
The White House did not provide evidence when asked to substantiate Trump's latest account. In an email to CNN, it said that Trump was a private citizen at the time and that "not everything he did was documented".
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle later accused the media of trying to use Trump's remarks to attack him, saying the president had been describing his experience of New York in the aftermath of the attacks.
Trump later said on Truth Social that "everything I said was exactly accurate".
His latest account comes days before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, when Trump is expected to attend a commemoration at the Pentagon rather than Ground Zero in New York.
Trump also used Tuesday's event to honour the family of Welles Crowther , a volunteer firefighter who died after helping people escape the South Tower. Crowther became known as the "man in the red bandana" because of the red bandana he wore over his face while assisting survivors.
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