Donald Trump repeated on Tuesday a claim that two firemen lifted him away from the World Trade Center site in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. Where was Trump on 9/11? The answer remains disputed in the account he gave at the Ellipse near the White House.
Trump said a battered piece of steel from the fallen towers on display at the Ellipse reminded him that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer, and no terror can destroy. He also said, “The United States Steel Building was creaking, really creaking, and we thought it was going to fall down. The truth is, it creaked a lot. It creaked. It still creaks, but it never came down.”
Trump at the Ellipse
Trump described the moment in detail, saying, “And I'll never forget two firemen. 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!’ And they literally lifted me up.” He added, “This is not easy to do. 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.”
That account came during a White House address tied to the upcoming 25 years since the September 11 attacks. The display of steel from the World Trade Center gave his remarks a direct link to the site he said he was leaving with the firefighters.
January 2016 in New Hampshire
Trump has told the same story before. In January 2016, at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, he said a “screech” sound had prompted the firefighters’ reaction and told the crowd, “I was there when we actually thought the U.S. Steel building was coming down.”
He added then, “I never knew I could run that fast.” That earlier account used the same basic claim: that he was near the World Trade Center site when firefighters moved him away because they thought the building was about to fall.
Ground Zero dispute
The account is disputed by first responders who were there, who said they never saw him on the ground. Trump has repeatedly claimed to have been near the World Trade Center site in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, and he has also said he sent crews from one of his construction projects to assist in recovery efforts.
For readers trying to separate the claim from the dispute, the point is simple: Trump has now repeated a specific story about firefighters lifting him away from Ground Zero, while the first responders cited in the account said they did not see him there. The remaining question is whether his version can be squared with what those responders said they observed.
