Did Trump say he now owned ‘tallest’ building in downtown Manhattan during 9/11 interview?

Claim:

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, real estate developer Donald Trump remarked that 40 Wall Street, a property he owned, was “the tallest” building in downtown Manhattan.

Rating:

Context

Trump specifically specified that 40 Wall Street was the tallest structure in downtown Manhattan, rather than claiming it was the tallest across all of Manhattan or New York City as a whole. Whether his statements constituted boasting remains a matter of personal perspective.

Around the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a claim (archived) surfaced across social media platforms alleging that Donald Trump—then operating as a prominent New York City real estate developer—declared immediately following the tragedy that he now possessed the tallest building in downtown Manhattan or New York City.

As an illustration, a user on X shared a video excerpt from a past television news broadcast featuring Trump, accompanied by the caption, “Here is Trump on 9/11 bragging that Trump Tower is now the tallest building in Manhattan.”

Here is Trump on 9/11 bragging that Trump Tower is now the tallest building in Manhattan pic.twitter.com/Fy5ZW85tZc

— FactPost (@factpostnews) September 11, 2026

Similar assertions regarding Trump supposedly labeling his property the tallest in Manhattan or New York City after the collapse of the Twin Towers appeared widely on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), and Reddit (archived). Numerous readers also reached out directly to inquire about the validity of these posts.

Public records confirm that Trump did tell (at timestamp 2:05, archived) a news interviewer shortly after the attacks that 40 Wall Street—a building still maintained by the Trump Organization—stood as “the tallest” structure specifically in downtown Manhattan, rather than encompassing the entirety of Manhattan or New York City. Consequently, the quote itself is verified as correctly attributed to him.

At the same time, whether those remarks qualified as boasting is subject to individual interpretation.

Fox 5 New York originally uploaded video footage to YouTube in 2016 documenting Trump’s telephone interview with WWOR-TV journalist Alan Marcus. The discussion about 40 Wall Street’s height began after Marcus inquired if the property had sustained any physical damage during the events. Their dialogue proceeded as follows (starting at 1:43):

MARCUS: Donald, you have one of the landmark buildings down in the financial district, 40 Wall Street, did you have any damage or did you know what’s happened down there?

TRUMP: Well, it was an amazing phone call I made. 40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan. And it was, actually before the World Trade Center, was the tallest. And then when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest.

During the course of the 2001 conversation, Marcus also questioned Trump about how he might have responded to the crisis had he been president, given that he had previously weighed a presidential run the year before (at 4:14). Trump replied that he would have pursued a notably stern approach toward those responsible.

Reflecting on the exchange in a 2016 Politico interview, Marcus characterized the remark as simply “Donald being Donald,” adding, “He is the brand manager of Trump, and he is going to tout that brand, and he does it reflexively.”

Nevertheless, the assertion that 40 Wall Street was definitively the tallest building in downtown Manhattan following the tragedy was factually inaccurate. The neighboring 70 Pine Street skyscraper, standing at 952 feet and existing within the 2001 skyline, actually surpassed 40 Wall Street in height by 26 feet.

For further context, past investigations have also examined related historical claims regarding Trump and commemoration events tied to the anniversary of the attacks.

Historical records contributed to the reporting of this summary.

Sources