Trump’s top six falsehoods about 9/11 as 25th anniversary nears
A Guardian fact-check catalogs the specific, on-the-record lies and exaggerations Trump has told about September 11 — from building heights to firefighter heroics — across 25 years.
1 / 5In the article · Yank's paraphrase
Hours after the towers fell, Trump told a local news anchor that 40 Wall Street was now the tallest building in downtown Manhattan. It was not: 70 Pine Street, about a block away, held that distinction.
Hours after the towers fell, Trump told a local news anchor that 40 Wall Street was now the tallest building in downtown Manhattan. It was not: 70 Pine Street, about a block away, held that distinction.
Even amid the towers' destruction, Trump misrepresented his own building's rank, turning personal opportunism into the article's first documented falsehood.
In context
1. Claiming the attacks made his building the tallest in downtown New YorkNot long after the attacks, Trump said in a telephone interview with a local news anchor that the destruction of the World Trade Center – previously New York City’s tallest building – meant his 40 Wall Street property was now the tallest in downtown Manhattan.“I mean, 40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan. And it was actually before the World Trade Center was the tallest,” Trump claimed. “And then when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second tallest. And now it’s the tallest.”It was not: 70 Pine Street, about a block away, held that distinction.
Hours after the towers fell, Trump told a local news anchor that 40 Wall Street actually was now the second-tallest tallest building in downtown Manhattan. And It was actually before the World Trade Center was the tallest,” Trump claimed. “And then when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second tallest. And now it’s the tallest.”It was not: 70 Pine Street, about a block away, held that distinction.
Receipt
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.
Trump places himself physically at the center of a dramatic rescue, a self-aggrandizing story the article frames as yet another fabrication.
In context
6. Fumbling the facts on firefightersDuring a ceremony at the White House ellipse on Tuesday to honor emergency workers who responded to the attacks, Trump said that when he and a group of workers went to visit lower Manhattan shortly after the attacks, he was carried out by firefighters worried that the lower Manhattan skyscraper One Liberty Plaza – formerly known as the US Steel Building – would collapse.“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,” the president claimed. “This is not easy to do – I’m big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said:…
Receipt
Trump claimed "thousands and thousands" of Muslim Americans were cheering in Jersey City on the day of the attacks. Despite many fact checks, no evidence has been discovered to back up this claim.
In context
That comment was a rehash of one he made shortly after the attack, where he told a German broadcaster that “we’ll have a couple hundred people down here” helping with the cleanup. In 2019, PolitiFact interviewed a New York City fire department battalion chief who did not recall Trump sending any workers to the site. 3. Lying about MuslimsWhen he first campaigned for the presidency in 2016, Trump repeated a story that “thousands and thousands” of Muslim Americans “were cheering” in Jersey City, New Jersey, on the day of the attacks in 2001.Despite many fact checks, no evidence has been discovered to back up this claim. 3. Lying about Muslims
Trump repeated a story that claimed "thousands and thousands" of Muslim Americans were cheering in Jersey City New Jersey, on the day of the attacks. in 2001.Despite Despite many fact checks, no evidence has been discovered to back up this claim.
Receipt
Trump wrote in 2018 that he had "pointed out" Bin Laden in his 2000 book just before the attacks — but at the time, Bin Laden was already widely known from the 1998 US embassy bombings.
Bin Laden was already a household name by 2000, so Trump's 2018 boast about prescience collapses under that prior public knowledge.
In context
5. Claiming to have predicted the attacksIn his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, Trump mentioned the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as among “a bewildering series of smaller crises” faced by the US.At the time, Bin Laden was known to Americans because al-Qaida had in 1998 orchestrated the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.That didn’t stop Trump from in 2018 writing on X that the US “should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did”, adding: “I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center.”
time, Bin Laden was known to Americans because al-Qaida had in 1998 orchestrated the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.That didn’t stop Trump from wrote in 2018 writing on X that the US “should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did”, adding: “I he had "pointed him out" Bin Laden in my his 2000 book just before the attacks — but at the time, Bin Laden was already widely known from the 1998 US embassy bombings.
Receipt
In 2019, PolitiFact interviewed a New York City fire department battalion chief who did not recall Trump sending any workers to the World Trade Center site.
A firsthand witness from the fire department directly contradicts Trump's repeated claim of sending workers to the recovery site.
In context
2. Claiming he helped clean upTrump has repeatedly claimed to have assisted with the recovery from the World Trade Center’s collapse. “Everyone who helped clear the rubble, and I was there, and I watched, and I helped a little bit,” he said at a campaign stop in 2016.That comment was a rehash of one he made shortly after the attack, where he told a German broadcaster that “we’ll have a couple hundred people down here” helping with the cleanup.In 2019, PolitiFact interviewed a New York City fire department battalion chief who did not recall Trump sending any workers to the site.
In 2019, PolitiFact interviewed a New York City fire department battalion chief who did not recall Trump sending any workers to the World Trade Center site.
Receipt
Didn’t see the line you wanted? Choose your own
Make something from it
Ask a question
Ask about anything in this article. We’ll try to provide an answer.