Donald Trump claims firefighters carried him from building near Ground Zero after 9/11

Disputed rescue account

President Donald Trump recounted a personal story on Tuesday during a White House event honouring emergency personnel and victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Addressing attendees at the ceremony ahead of the 25th anniversary, Trump claimed that two firefighters bodily lifted him and carried him away from a Manhattan skyscraper that appeared at risk of collapse. According to Trump, the incident took place near Ground Zero at the former U.S. Steel Building, known today as One Liberty Plaza, located directly opposite the World Trade Center site. Trump stated that he had taken his construction crew to Lower Manhattan to assist with recovery efforts when the skyscraper began to creak loudly, prompting fears that it would fall onto the street.

We thought it was coming down on top of us, and two firemen, big strong guys, and I'm not the smallest guy in the world, they grabbed me under the arm, said, 'Got to get out of here!'

Scrutiny from fact-checkers and former staff

Public records and contemporaneous accounts offer no corroboration for Trump's description of being rescued by emergency workers. CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale noted that while engineers and local authorities monitored One Liberty Plaza over structural concerns in the days following the attacks, the building remained intact, and no public evidence places Trump at the scene during those collapse alarms. Trump was at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, several miles north of the World Trade Center, on the morning of September 11. In 2016, a former senior employee of the Trump Organization told Politico that Trump did nothing out of the ordinary on the day of the disaster. Former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res, who oversaw company construction projects during the 1980s and 1990s, also expressed doubt regarding the story.

If he had been down there and carried away by firemen and first responders, that would have been the headline of The New York Times the next day. He would have made that happen.

Post-speech clarifications and evolving claims

Following public questions about whether he claimed to be at the scene during the immediate collapse, Trump posted a clarification on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday evening. He wrote that he never stated he was at Ground Zero on the day of the attacks itself, maintaining that he arrived shortly after with a crew of construction workers. However, rescue workers, site managers, and emergency officials present during the recovery operations have stated that they have no recollection or documentation of Trump or an organized group of his workers participating at the site. Trump previously referenced shorter variations of the One Liberty Plaza incident in a 2021 Newsmax interview and during remarks in 2016, where he indicated he was not inside the building.

Anniversary schedule and itinerary

The dispute coincides with announcements regarding Trump's itinerary for the 25th anniversary commemorations on Friday, September 11. Rather than attending the main ceremony at the World Trade Center memorial in New York, where 2,977 people died, Trump plans to mark the anniversary at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, which was also struck during the attacks. Vice President JD Vance and four living former presidents (Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush) plan to attend the Ground Zero commemoration. Trump rejected reports suggesting his decision to avoid New York stemmed from restrictions prohibiting political speeches, calling the event a solemn ceremony on Truth Social. Following his appearance at the Pentagon, Trump is scheduled to depart for Ireland to attend the Irish Open golf tournament at his family's Doonbeg golf resort over the weekend.