Washington DC - President Donald Trump raged on social media after several damning news reports questioned his claims of a visit to Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

During a speech on Tuesday at an event honoring 9/11 emergency personnel, Trump repeated a story he has told over the years about taking a crew of workers to Ground Zero to assist with rescue efforts shortly after the attacks.

The tale was quickly met with fact checks from numerous media outlets, which got the president's attention.

In a lengthy Truth Social post that night, Trump called out New York Magazine for publishing a story that claimed he was never at Ground Zero "because nobody saw me there."

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"Well, I don't think I would be the first thing on anyone's mind but, I was there, obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter, with a large group of Construction Workers," he wrote, reiterating the story.

He claimed his head of security at the time has corroborated his story and attached a video taken on September 13, 2001, that showed him discussing a visit to employees in lower Manhattan, claiming it was proof of his story.

Trump then took aim at New York Times writer Maggie Haberman for her story alleging that he chose to attend a commemorative event on 9/11 at the Pentagon instead of at Ground Zero because he would not have been allowed to give a speech in New York.

"I hereby demand a retraction from Maggot, and also, for whoever wrote the fake story for New York Magazine," Trump wrote.

Throughout his time in politics, Trump has waged war against the "fake news" – a label he often slaps on any news outlet with negative reporting about him. In his second term, he has gone to aggressive lengths to punish these outlets.

In a statement shared on Wednesday, The New York Times – which has faced pressure from the president over its reporting in the past – said they "won't be issuing a retraction."

"This is another all too common example of the president lashing out at coverage he doesn't like and belittling journalists who report the facts," the outlet added.