Trump Faces Fact-Check Over Repeated 9/11 Rescue Claim
Key Takeaways
- •Trump told Fox News host Trey Gowdy that he went to Ground Zero the day after the attacks and worked extensively there with his construction crews.
- •Fact-checkers and news organizations have repeatedly examined the claim and found no documentation supporting it.
- •Commentator David Pakman said the record shows only that Trump visited the Ground Zero area in the days after the attack.
- •Former FDNY Chief Richard Alles disputed Trump's 2001 claim of having over a hundred workers at the site, saying all crews operated under police and fire supervision and such involvement would have been documented.
- •After the attacks, Trump boasted on television that 40 Wall Street had become the tallest building downtown, a claim that was incorrect since 70 Pine Street was taller.
President Donald Trump is again repeating a long-debunked account of his actions after the September 11 attacks, claiming that he worked "long and hard" on recovery efforts.
The claim is one Trump has repeated in various forms over the years, and it has been examined repeatedly by fact-checkers and news organizations, which have found no documentation supporting it.
Days before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Trump told Fox News host Trey Gowdy that he rushed downtown after the twin towers fell and joined the response with his own construction crews. Progressive political commentator David Pakman addressed the claim on a Monday episode of his podcast and called it a lie that Trump "seemingly cannot get away from because he needs it to fuel his massive ego."
In the interview with Gowdy, Trump said he watched the attacks from an apartment and said he immediately recognized that it was a plane rather than a "boiler" or a "missile." He then said he sent workers to the site the next day.
"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," Trump said. "You couldn't go down the same day, but like the following day very, very quickly afterwards, and we worked long and hard."
Pakman mocked that claim, saying, "Long and hard. Trump is working long and hard. Give me a break." He said the "evidence has never ever, ever materialized."
According to Pakman, the record shows only that Trump "visited the area around ground zero in the days after the attack." He also cited Trump's Sept. 13, 2001, claim that he "had more than a hundred workers in there" with "a hundred more coming."
New York Fire Department Chief Richard Alles later disputed that assertion.
"We would have had documentation of that," Alles said. "All the crews were operating under police and fire department supervision."
Pakman said there is "zero record" that Trump sent workers to the site and "zero evidence" for the heroism narrative, adding that news organizations that tried to verify it found nothing.
He also pointed to Trump's actual response in the days after the attacks, when Trump called a television show to say that his 40 Wall Street property had become "the tallest building" downtown after the towers fell.
Pakman noted that even that boast was incorrect because 70 Pine Street was taller.
