Trump’s 9/11 account faces renewed scrutiny over timing and Ground Zero claims

Donald Trump’s account of his whereabouts and activities after the 11 September 2001 attacks has come under renewed scrutiny as the 25th anniversary approaches.

In a speech on Tuesday, Trump said two firefighters carried him to safety near the US Steel Building “right after” the attacks. He later said he was not at the World Trade Center on the day of the collapse, but had been there “shortly thereafter”.

The account differs from an earlier version in which Trump said the alleged incident occurred “a couple of days after 9/11”. Reporting by France 24, including a review of earlier statements and witness accounts, said the timing and location of the alleged rescue have not been independently established.

A former Trump Organization executive told Politico in 2016 that Trump was at Trump Tower during the attacks. A New York Fire Department chief also told The New York Times in 2019 that he never saw Trump at Ground Zero during the months he spent there.

Other reports have placed Trump at the site in the days after the attacks. Trump said two days afterwards that he had hundreds of workers at Ground Zero and was bringing more, but the extent of his involvement in recovery operations remains unclear.

France 24 also noted that other claims made by Trump about the attacks have been challenged, including his statement that he saw people jumping from the World Trade Center and his claim that “thousands and thousands” of Muslim Americans celebrated in New Jersey. New Jersey officials found no evidence of mass celebrations.