Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, President Donald Trump has revisited his personal experiences from the aftermath of the tragedy, once again putting forward claims about his involvement in the recovery effort that lack verifiable proof.
Speaking in a Fox News interview with Trey Gowdy that aired on September 6, Trump recalled heading down to the disaster zone shortly after the event. “I was building a building in New York, and I had a lot of construction workers. And I went down there very shortly thereafter, the following day—couldn’t go down the same day—but the following day,” he stated, adding, “Very quickly afterwards. And we worked long and hard.”
Days later, during a September 8 White House event dedicated to 9/11 emergency responders, Trump shared a dramatic anecdote about being physically carried away from the site. He described a moment when the nearby One Liberty Plaza (formerly the U.S. Steel Building) began to creak, sparking fears of an imminent collapse.
“We thought it was coming down on top of us, and two firemen, big strong guys—I’m not the smallest guy in the world—they grabbed me under the arm, said, ‘Got to get out of here,’ and they literally lifted me up. This is not easy to do,” Trump recounted. “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.”
While the lifelong New Yorker has shared variations of this story previously, historical records corroborate that panic over a potential collapse of One Liberty Plaza did prompt localized evacuations. For instance, archives on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s website note that staff had to evacuate the Fed building on September 12 due to safety concerns regarding the neighboring structure—though these records do not mention Trump’s presence.
For years, Trump has maintained that he spent extensive time at Ground Zero and dispatched hundreds of personnel to assist with recovery operations. In mid-September 2001, specifically on September 13, he conducted multiple interviews near the location, asserting that he had brought in construction workers to pitch in.
However, investigations by organizations like PolitiFact and The New York Times have found no documentation to support the assertion that he mobilized hundreds of workers to the site. At the time of the attacks in 2001, the Trump World Tower was under construction in Midtown Manhattan, roughly five miles away from the World Trade Center complex.
When asked by fact-checkers regarding the exact timeline of Trump’s visits and the number of workers he supposedly deployed, the White House directed inquiries to the Trump Organization, which did not respond.
Examining Trump’s Presence at Ground Zero
The earliest documented photographic and video evidence of Trump near Ground Zero dates back to September 13, 2001. On that day, he gave an interview to German television network N24 and spoke with other media outlets, reiterating his claims about worker involvement.
“I have a lot of men down here right now,” he told N24. “We have over 100 and we have about 125 coming. So we’ll have a couple hundred people down here. And they’re very brave and what they’re doing is amazing. And we will be involved in some form in helping to reconstruct.” In another September 13 interview, he claimed 100 of his company’s employees were laboring at the site and that his purpose there was “to spur them on.”
Despite these statements, independent verification regarding direct cleanup participation or repeated visits in the weeks following remains elusive.
Richard Alles, a New York Fire Department battalion chief in 2001, noted in a previous interview that he had no recollection of Trump or any contingent of workers associated with him being present. “There would be a record of it,” Alles remarked. “Everybody worked under direct supervision of the police and fire department and the joint commander for emergency services. Is there a chance he was ever down there by himself and I didn’t know it? It’s possible, but I know of no one who ever witnessed him there.”
Other contemporary reports placed Trump in the vicinity of Ground Zero shortly after the attacks, though opinions on his level of participation vary. The Associated Press noted accounts of Trump “giving high-fives to police officers and volunteers on their way to the World Trade Center site,” while a CNN review cited a *Newsday* article describing him as having been spotted at Ground Zero on September 13, “every hair in place and impeccably dressed in a black suit.”
Conversely, in a 2019 account, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik stated that Trump visited the site multiple times without media presence to encourage personnel working through the debris.
Anniversary Plans for the 25th Commemoration
For the 25th-anniversary observances, Trump has opted not to participate in the official New York City memorial ceremony, choosing instead to attend an event at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
Citing anonymous insiders, The New York Times reported that Trump’s decision to bypass the New York gathering stemmed partly from restrictions preventing politicians from delivering remarks—a policy enacted by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in 2012.
Trump rejected the publication’s reasoning, addressing the matter via a post on Truth Social where he also criticized journalist Maggie Haberman.
“This is more Corrupt News, I’ve been to New York many times over the years, and no one ever speaks, it’s a ‘solemn ceremony!’” Trump wrote, adding, “I would love not to speak, because I’m speaking all the time, and this is a day to remember the victims, and their beautiful family members.”
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to represent the administration at the New York commemoration, while other federal officials are expected to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.