BS BULLETIN:
- President Donald Trump added a striking detail to his account of being near Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 attacks, saying two firefighters grabbed him under the arms, lifted him and began running when they feared a nearby building might collapse.
- Trump made the remarks Tuesday at the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s “Steel Across America” remembrance event on the White House Ellipse, where he also honored 9/11 victims and first responders.
- The evacuation scare itself is plausible — records show concern that nearby One Liberty Plaza might collapse — but independent evidence confirming that firefighters carried Trump has not surfaced. Trump has previously told a shorter version of the evacuation story.
President Trump says two New York firefighters once did something he admits was no easy feat: They picked him up and ran with him near Ground Zero.
Trump recounted the episode Tuesday while speaking ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He said he had brought construction workers downtown following the attacks when concern turned to the nearby building formerly known as the U.S. Steel Building, now One Liberty Plaza.
“We thought it was coming down on top of us,” Trump recalled.
According to Trump, two firefighters grabbed him beneath his arms and told him they had to get out.
“They literally lifted me up,” Trump said, adding, “This is not easy to do. I’m big.”
Trump said the firefighters then began running with him until he protested that he could run on his own.
There is evidence that fears about One Liberty Plaza were real. A Federal Reserve Bank of New York history cited by PolitiFact says employees were evacuated on Sept. 12, 2001, because of concerns the nearby building could collapse. It ultimately remained standing.
The Washington Post reports that Trump did tell a version of the story in 2016, although that account described firefighters evacuating him from the area and did not include Tuesday’s vivid description of being physically carried away.
Trump’s broader accounts of his role after 9/11 have long been disputed. Of course they have.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Associated Press — Trump honors 9/11 victims at the Ellipse
- White House — President Trump honors 9/11 heroes
- PolitiFact — Fact-checking Trump’s 9/11 response stories
- Mediaite — Trump says firefighters lifted him and ran
- Washington Post — Trump repeats disputed account of his 9/11 role
