Trump claims he helped 9/11 first responders and was saved by firefighters at Ground Zero – but is it true?
Washington DC - President Donald Trump claimed he experienced a harrowing incident while helping emergency responders at Ground Zero after the September 11 terrorist attacks – but is it true?
On Tuesday, Trump held an event at the Ellipse near the White House to honor 9/11 emergency personnel, where he posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, a volunteer firefighter who saved numerous lives.
At one point, while delivering a speech, Trump reminisced about how he was "building a big building" in downtown Manhattan when the attack hit, and with "no hesitation," he took a crew to Ground Zero "right after this happened."
"We went down as a big group of people, wasn't too much we could do, I'll be honest. It was raw – nobody ever seen anything like it, ever," Trump recalled.
He went on to claim the US Steel building "creaked a lot" as if it might fall, which led to a death-defying moment for him.
"I'll never forget – two firemen. We thought it was coming down on top of us that two firemen – big, strong guys – and I'm not the smallest guy in the world – they grabbed me under the arms [and said], 'You got to get out of here.' And they literally lifted me up," the president said.
"They lifted me up, and they started running with me. I said, 'Fellas, I can run myself.' But they were amazing."
"They thought it was coming down. It didn't come down," he added.
Is Donald Trump lying about helping at Ground Zero?
Throughout his years in politics, Trump has reiterated claims that he helped with 9/11 rescue efforts, though the claims have never been corroborated.
According to The New York Times, as he was first running for president in 2015, Trump told stories on the campaign trail about how he witnessed people jumping from the Twin Towers from his own Trump Tower, located four miles away.
The Independent reports that during a campaign event in January 2016, he shared a story identical to Tuesday's, claiming that two "massive guys" pulled him to safety from the building after hearing a "screech."
Trump was reportedly in lower Manhattan in the days following the attacks, during which he did interviews mostly about his real estate plans.
In 2019, he told a group of first responders during an event that while he doesn't consider himself on their level, "I spent a lot of time down there with you."
Trump continues to push the narrative in 2026. Days before Tuesday's event, he told Fox News that he had "worked long and hard" in rescue efforts.
Critics assume he will again push the apparent lie during a memorial event at the Pentagon he is scheduled to attend on Friday.
His claims have been heavily disputed by people who were at the scene. Richard Alles, a retired deputy chief with the New York Fire Department who spent months at the site, told the Times he "never witnessed" Trump there at all.
Cover photo: Finn Gomez / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP