The story that President Donald Trump recently told during a tribute for the 9/11 attacks — in which he claimed to have been rescued by firefighters amid the possibility of a nearby building collapsing near the Twin Towers — has raised questions about its veracity.
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According to the president, after the attack he went to the area to inspect a building he was constructing nearby, when the structure began to creak. “I will never forget those two firefighters. We thought the (U.S. Steel Building) was going to fall on us, and two firefighters, big strong guys, grabbed me under the arm and said, ‘we have to get out of here.’ And, literally, they lifted me up carrying me. It’s not easy to do. I’m bulky. They lifted me and started running with me. I told them, ‘friends, I can run by myself,’ but they were incredible,” he said.
Twenty-five years ago, Trump had not yet entered politics, but he was already a highly media-savvy businessman known for his personality. Since then, every time he has told different versions of anecdotes from those days, his account has been questioned, so these new statements have rekindled that controversy, mainly due to the lack of evidence supporting his anecdote.
Hours after his speech, the president had to clarify on his social network Truth that the incident did not occur on the day of the attacks, but during a visit he made days later to the area, something he had not specified before. “Everything I said was completely true and, to prove it, I attach videos in which I appear there with numerous people from my team, including my then head of security, Matthew Calamari, who has confirmed that very sad trip to Lower Manhattan many times and before many journalists, but it is a story that simply refuses to die. The fake news media don’t want to hear it, even when they know their story is false. That’s why their approval ratings are at a HISTORIC LOW, while mine are VERY HIGH,” Trump wrote, who specifically asked New York Magazine to retract an article written about it.
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Among the videos the president published is an interview in which he claims that around 100 of his workers were doing cleaning work at Ground Zero. However, in the past different witnesses have denied this version. “There would be records of that. Everyone worked under the direct supervision of the police and fire departments and the joint commander of emergency services. Is it possible that he was ever down there on his own and I didn’t know? It’s possible, but I have no knowledge of anyone who saw him there,” Richard Alles, who was battalion chief of the New York Fire Department when the attack occurred, told Politifact.
TRUMP: Posts photo with firefighters and soldier at apparent disaster site pic.twitter.com/GXD5AmyM9q
— Trump Truths (@trumptruthsbot) September 9, 2026
Outside of these statements, no concrete evidence has been presented of that supposed inspection at the U.S. Steel building, during which, according to his account, firefighters had to rescue him due to the risk of the structure collapsing. What does exist are some images of Trump posing alongside officers and workers in a construction area. However, the photographs do not allow corroboration of the episode he describes and show the then businessman with his suit apparently clean and in good condition.
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