The more President Donald Trump tried to settle questions about what he did after the Sept. 11 attacks, the more scrutiny seemed to follow. And the backlash over his latest claims has left Trump trying to defend his 9/11 record while creating still more questions about it.
In his latest Truth Social rant, Trump lashed out at New York Magazine for questioning his account of visiting Ground Zero and then turned his anger toward New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman over his decision to attend the 25th anniversary ceremony at the Pentagon rather than Ground Zero.
But the fight came as Trump’s own recent descriptions of that day and its aftermath continued to collide with older accounts and a growing wave of online skepticism.
Trump insists he was at Ground Zero shortly after the attacks, says construction workers accompanied him, and claims firefighters physically pulled him away right before the towers collapsed. Yet people who were there, a family member, and social media users have challenged his accounts, pointing to apparent inconsistencies.
“The Failing New York Magazine wrote a story that I wasn’t down at the World Trade Center after the Tragedy of September 11th, because nobody saw me there,” Trump wrote Tuesday. “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.
Trump said he had already addressed the issue in his Ellipse remarks and insisted that his account was accurate, pointing to video clips and his former security chief Matthew Calamari as confirmation of his visit to Lower Manhattan, the Independent reported.
“The Fake News doesn’t want to listen, even when they know their story is false. That’s why their approval ratings are at an All Time LOW, but mine are VERY HIGH!”
The controversy had already intensified before Trump’s Truth Social post.
During a Sunday Fox News interview with Trey Gowdy, Trump claimed he went downtown the day after the attacks with construction workers and that they “worked long and hard.” His comments revived longstanding questions about whether the large recovery crew he has described ever went to the site at all.
“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 afterward, and we worked long and hard.”
Then, at Tuesday’s Ellipse ceremony honoring 9/11 victims and heroes, Trump added another extraordinary detail to his version.
“We thought it was coming down on top of us. And two firemen, big strong guys… They grabbed me under the arms — said, ‘got to get out of here!’ — and they literally lifted me up … and they started running with me,” Trump claimed.
That version has drawn particular scrutiny because Trump has also said he did not go to Ground Zero until the following day. Online critics quickly seized on the contradiction.
“Still at it. Stolen valor,” one said on X. Another commenter wrote: “Any of us w/common sense that don’t belong to a cult can all agree that the man lies so much, he probably doesn’t even realize when he’s lying. I’ve seen my fair share of presidents come and go but never can I recall seeing one refer to a reporter as a maggot or piggy. Have you?”
A third wrote: “Trump doesn’t just tell lies, he tells stupid lies. The kind that are so easily proven to be false that a 6-year-old could do it.”
The president’s nephew, Fred Trump, also challenged his account, saying he was offended by the president’s claim that he brought a crew of workers to the site.
“I try not to comment personally about my uncle, but his claim that he brought a crew of workers to help at the sight so offends me that I need to speak out,” Fred Trump wrote on X.
Previously, the president accused Haberman of falsely reporting that he’s skipping Friday’s Ground Zero ceremony because organizers would not let him speak.
“On another September 11th front, Maggot Hagerman continues to say that I did not go to the New York World Trade Center event, but the Pentagon instead, because they wouldn’t let me speak in New York.”
“Maggot knows that this is a lie! I have been to the New York solemn ceremony numerous times, and nobody speaks. It is a stated fact that, ‘Politicians and public officials are not permitted to deliver speeches or remarks at the official September 11 anniversary remembrance ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York.’”
Trump continued: “Hagerman, unattractive both inside and out, fully knows that her story is made up. She knows less about me than the average reporter ‘on the beat.’”
“I haven’t spoken to her in a long time, and certainly there was no ‘fact checking’ for her story – There never is! Let her reveal her sources, because they don’t exist.”
The New York Times rejected the attack.
In a post by NYTimes Communications on X, the newspaper pointed readers to its coverage and said: “Readers can follow our coverage of the president’s 9/11 plans, and the evolving — and often disputed — account of his actions on Sept. 11.”
The post included a statement from Nicole Taylor, a Times spokesperson: “We 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.”
